StarCraft: Raiders
by MobyDickAteMeLeg
Summary: The misadventures of Raynor's Raiders, as they work as free lance mercenaries, chasing a pipe dream of someday overthrowing the Dominion, post Brood War. Reviews, welcome and please. Thank you!
1. Chapter 1

StarCraft: Raiders

Part 1: The Encounter

Like most Fringe World planets, Daphine Prime was only shaken out of its monotony when somebody from the Core World willed it. Otherwise, it was mostly the same old deal. A bunch of fringe world yokels farming all day, and eating the spoils of their labor, sometimes engaging in petty crime and violence over their turfs. Fringe squibs could turn quite vicious when they felt their lands were threatened. Not that Foreman Cardinini was worried. No matter what these fringe squibs had, it couldn't be anything more advanced than an ancient P-Series shotgun. Absolutely no match for the mighty firepower and skilled soldiers of the Kel-Morian Combine. Any fringe squib resisting would be mowed down en masse by the Gauss Rifle wielding Marines in those heavy battle armors. Cardinini was never the one for much bloodshed, and thus, hoped that there would be minimal resistance from the local "authorities", as the drop ships began to land. If there wasn't too much hostility, he might even be able to bring his wife in here. If he couldn't, tough for her. He'd have to find another woman. For all he knew, the Combine may expect him to stay on this God forsaken fringe planet for years. No way he was going that long without a woman, even if the only women here were fringe squibs.

"All Marines, prepare for drop."

On the drop ship, Cardinini sat in the first class area, where he could get off after the ship had landed. His men, on the other hand, were expected to land via landing cable first, fully armed, to clear the area of any hostiles before a man such as himself could land. About five minutes after the pilot on this particular Drop Ship made the announcement, he finished his cocktail, an even mix of fine, Antigan wine and framberry juice, and felt the ship land.

"The area has been cleared for landing, Foreman."

"Thank you adjutant."

Grabbing his coat, Cardinini walked off the ship, and took his first step on Daphine Prime. The planet was mostly farmlands, grassy crops and cattle everywhere, but to the left of him, where the grass wasn't quite so thick, he could see rows and rows of shining blue crystals, seemingly endless. So, the rumors of the planets' mineral status didn't lie. The Combine's intelligence system never did lie, but he couldn't think about the minerals for too long, because about then, he found himself distracted by the piercing gaze of about three dozen natives gathered around in front of his impressive Marine troops. Cardinini felt himself proud. He must have been quite an impressive sight to these disgusting yokels. And as such, he spoke first.

"Greetings, natives of Daphine Prime. I am Foreman Cardinini, and I come here representing the Kel-Morian Combine, who wishes to negotiate a mining deal with the major authorities of this sector."

An uneasy silence followed. The fringe squibs simply kept staring at him with their disgusting, crusty eyes, before the leader squib dog spat and started talking. Disgusting fringe squibs. He wanted to order his men to slice them all into bits. But no, he had no control himself. He had to maintain peace. For now, at least.

"And who is you, again? We ain't familiar wit' no Comb-an here, or your fancy core world gadgets. Now, this here be my land, and my family land, and I can get the Marshall here to prove it. So I suggest you all be gettin' off it, befo' things get ugly."

Typical fringe squib behavior. This one wasn't taking the hint. He would have to be more direct.

"We, the Kel-Morian Combine, are here to colonize this sector, to harvest its rich mineral resources. So unless you want to die, fringe squib, I suggest you bring me your little Marshall, so we can see which one of you gets to mine how many minerals a day around here."

The squib took offense at this one, as did the rest of them, who all tensed up. The leader squib approached him. While he had no weapons on him, if this fringe squib laid as much as a finger on his newly bought, expensive suit, he was prepared to have him, and the rest of these yokels killed.

"Listen son. I don't know what ya'll are talkin' about yo' colonizationing, but like I said befo', you don't get off my property, I'm gonna have to start kickin' some ass, and I ain't scared of no Space Marines."

Then, the squib pushed him a little. The Combine Marines tensed up a little, but they wouldn't do anything unless ordered. Cardinini on the other hand, was infuriated. He grabbed the fringe squib by his collars and began screaming in his face.

"Go ahead and try that again, fringe squib."

The squib then grew mad and hooked him in the face, after which he kicked him in the stomach. That was all that provocation the men needed. The Kel-Morian Combine Marines unleashed rains and rains of bullets on the fringe squibs with their mighty Gauss Rifles. Then, shortly after, more Drop Ships, buildings (Mostly Command Centers, Barracks and such), and Wraiths arrived. Vultures and Firebats joined the fight. Needless to say, the fringe squib who had the balls to hit the Honorable Foreman was killed instantly by the shots.

"Kill them all! Seek out and exterminate any goddamn fringe squib you see, with extreme prejudice. Burn everything down. Show these squibs how the Kel-Morian Combine treats to hostiles."

His Marines, all bloodthirsty to the extreme, were only happy to comply, as they ran through the sector, destroying, killing, pillaging. Cardinini was pleased. The area would have to be sufficiently razed, if they were to be able to set up able mining camps around. The only thing that even slightly worried him was the possibility that his men may not give these squibs a chance to surrender, thus killing them all, and eliminating all chances of slave labor. But even that worry faded away quickly, as he dusted his suit and went back into the Drop Ship for another glass of fine cocktail, leaving the burning chaos and carnage behind him.

_Two weeks later…._

Raynor's Raiders. No two words invoked as much fear, contempt, respect, and anger in the Koprulu Sector as the title given to a gang of mercenaries, led by Marshall James Raynor. In reality, the name was just bit of a misnomer. While Jim Raynor was still always in the center of any planning, recruiting, and missions of the Raiders, he'd been less and less an active figure. For the last few months or so, the true leader of Raynor's Raiders was a man sitting in the captain's quarters, lying down on his bed, throwing darts at a picture of Arcturus Mengsk. Matt Horner, the Captain of the Hyperion, Jim Raynor's most trusted lieutenant, genius military commander, and mediocre marksman. As he missed his fifth dart aimed for Mengsk's forehead, someone came into his room.

"Haven't you folks ever heard of knocking?"  
The intruder, a young Marine, fully armored, nodded and bowed slightly.

"I'm sorry sir, but Marshall Raynor and Captain Findlay needed to see you. It seemed urgent."

"Well, if it's so goddamn urgent, maybe Jimmyboy and Tychus could fetch me themselves."

"They're planning sir, and you're already late."

"Shut up! Stop defending them!"  
After sufficiently yelling at the young Marine, which boosted his fragile male ego, he pushed him out of the way and walked towards the bridge of the Hyperion, where Jim and Tychus were apparently planning something. Urgent, was it? In Tychus's book, the only urgent thing in the world was the urgent need to kill people. With Jim, it was mostly getting money to feed for his men. A combination of both, something that involved killing people, and getting paid for it. Didn't sound like anything new. Walking down the corridors of the Hyperion as if he'd rather be crawling down it, he finally got to the bridge of the ship. Tychus was already in his armor. Jim wasn't.

"A new job?" asked Matt.

"You bet it is. It's a pretty big one too. Bigger than the ones we'd been taking recently," said Jim.

"I can tell. Righteous Tychus here's packing some heavy load. Where'd you get the grenades?"

"I've had them from the last job."

"Our last job? Our last job involved assassinating a midget with a sexual fetish for gigantic explosions. Where the hell do grenades come in that?" asked Matt.

"You know, for a smart guy, you're pretty dumb," said Tychus, to Matt.

"He clearly took them after we killed the midget," said Jim.

"Petty theft. As if being a bunch of pirates weren't enough. Jim, how big is this job?"

"Pretty big. It involves a lot of things, and I'll brief you right now."  
"Big enough for us to finally you know, actually do something against the Dominion for once?"

"Don't tell me you're getting caught up in that too," said Jim.

"Give the guy a break, Matt. We'll hit Dominion when we hit Dominion. Until then, let's just enjoy the ride," said Tychus.

"Well, of course you're fine with it. As long as there are people to be killed, you're fine with anything," said Matt.

Sensing an uncomfortably violent wave between his two lieutenants, Tychus and Matt, Jim interrupted, by talking.

"Alright so uh, I'll brief you both, if you don't mind being briefed. We've been hired by a Fringe World mayor His place's been taken. Kel-Morian Combine, apparently. The place has lots of mineral, and it's somewhere near the Antiga Prime sector. He wants us to liberate the place."

"A fringe world? How much is this guy offering?" asked Tychus.

"Enough to feed us for a while. It shouldn't be too hard, I mean, Kel-Morian Combine. I know we're good enough to beat them off, especially if we have the element of surprise," said Matt.

"Exactly. The pay is good. I have no idea how this yokel managed to scratch up quite a bit, but he did it. So, are we up for this, Ty?"  
"I'm up for whatever you're up for Jim," said Tychus.

"I won't be able to accompany you on this particular job. I have uh, businesses to attend to," said Jim.

"What? Businesses? Where? Don't tell me you're just abandoning us to fight the Combine on the Fringe? I'm the Captain of this ship. I don't like being away from my baby." said Matt.

"Oh, suck it up. Besides, Dre will accompany you, and I'm letting you guys borrow one of the Nuke Silos. Does that make you feel better?" asked Jim.

"That guttural Ghost? Jim, I respect you and all man, but I'm really questioning your judgment here," said Matt.

"Fine. I'll leave a fleet or two above the orbit of the place, in case you bunch of babies need reinforcement. There? Anyways, if you're both ready to drop, we'll be dropping on the planet in thirty minutes. It'll be night. I expect you all to strike the place, and take it down immediately. I'll be back in five days."

"Five days with this chump. What could be more exciting?" said Matt, motioning to an increasingly murderous looking Tychus.

"Sab, get us ready for landing soon."

Sab was the Hyperion's pilot, and the object of Matt Horner's never ending hate. Maybe it was her background. Or perhaps it was her unending perkiness, and Matt's need to crush anything that remained happy for more than six hours around him, and his resulting frustration when unable to. But most likely, it was the fact that she was a Sabrina. No good ever came from girls named Sabrina, even if they shortened it to Sab. She could stand in one place doing nothing but breathing, and Horner could find something wrong with her breathing pattern. He walked up to the piloting area, directly connected to the bridge, and began his daily routine of Sab bullying, which wouldn't begin again for another five days.

"Preparing for landing, Red Baroness?" asked Matt.

"Yes, Captain. A Fringe World. Marshall Raynor made it sound like a pretty big assignment."

"That's probably because it is a pretty fucking big assignment, you fucking moron, now get your eyes back to landing."  
"Yes sir. But I'll have you know, I can land and talk at the same time."

"Does it look like I care? Stop talking!"  
"If you don't want me to talk, why did you come up to me?"

A moment of uneasy silence that always follows an embarrassing defeat.

"Shut up! Just keep landing, ok?"

"How big is this job?"

"I told you, really damn big."

"Well, I know that, but I wanted to know, you know, since Vi is landing and all-"

Matt stopped.

"Wait, what?  
"I said, Vi is landing-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Matt ran back out the bridge, into Raynor's quarters, not far from the bridge, where he was reading something.

"Yes, Matt?"  
"Vi is landing with us on this mission?"  
"Yes, didn't I mention that before?"  
"No, you didn't but thank you very fucking much for mentioning it now. Why in the name of God is she coming with us on a mission when even you're not accompanying?"

"Relax, soldier. We just think it would be in our best interest to have all Medic forces with you. Tychus has been getting more and more violent lately. Probably all the drinking. We need to minimize casualties."

"Yes, well, that's all fine and dandy, but is there any reason to send her down there, directly?"  
"She's the Medic Commander. She'll know how to lead them better than anyone. She herself consented to it, and it's a done decision. Relax, she'll be accompanied by Dre at all times."

"Dre is a loose cannon, and I don't trust her. I'm talking to Vi about this personally."

"No, you won't. You have to get suited up first."

"I don't need my suit. I hate that thing. It's only the Kel-Morian Combine, Jim. I can handle it on a Vulture or something."

"Never underestimate the stupidity of the wealthy men, Mr. Horner. Get suited up. It might get a little hairy down there."

An alarm rang out through the Hyperion, that same alarm that always rings when they're preparing for landing. The adjutant voice ordered the Shuttles to prepare to land. After their disastrous campaign on Char, the Hyperion were left with only three major Shuttles. The Chandler, captained by Lieutenant Abernathy, whom Matt himself rarely interacted with, but saw Jim talking to all the time, the Endymion, a much larger and more powerful Shuttle that could hold more Drop Ships, and two Command Centers, The third was the Siri, but according to Raynor only the Endymion would be making a landing. It would more than suffice against the weak, hired soldiers of the Kel-Morian Combine. Being an independent faction within Dominion control, the Combine could not have its own military, and instead, hired rogue mercenaries like Raynor's Raiders. Sepoys. They were powerful, but mostly not very well trained. They were no match for the Raiders' superior firepower, battle experience, and perhaps most importantly, their fearsome reputation. Reputation could be a powerful weapon. He headed for the shuttle Endymion to be outfitted, and on the way, he caught Vi talking to Commander Julian Byrne, a Squad Leader, and the leader of the Endymion. She was fully armored in her Medic outfit, and he ran up to her.

"Vi! What are you doing here? Get out of that suit, you're not landing with us."

"Why not? I haven't seen any action in-"

"I don't give a shit! Stay on the ship!"

Byrne interrupted.

"Captain, if I may suggest, we land in less than an hour. You should get suited up yourself, and prepare to land. Everyone else is locked up, loaded, and ready to go."  
"Shut up, you stupid, self-righteous dick. Go back in your Shuttle and do your make-up or something. This is urgent."

"No sir, you getting ready to lead us against the Combine in this mission is urgent."

"I outrank you, Commander. Now, I command you as the Captain of the Hyperion to go back in your little Shuttle and fix your make-up. Oh and, do Tychus's nails while you're at it."

"Matt, please. You're embarrassing me. This is nepotism. Just because I'm your sister-"

"No, listen, you have no idea what you're saying. Yes, you're my sister, and you need to be protected."

"I'm the Commander of the Medic Division of the Raiders, Matt. You've sheltered me too long. I can't lead these girls if I can't see what it's like to be there in the front line, faced with the enemy, and having to heal our boys."

The adjutant's stupid voice rang out again. Ten minutes, until landing.

"Where's Dre? Will she be with you, at all times?"

"She's suited up and ready to go. I suggest you get suited up too."

"I hate that suit. I'll manage on my Vulture. Be careful, alright? If things get too hairy, feel free to run away and ditch everyone else."

With that, Matt gave a bitter sigh and headed towards inside the massive Shuttle, to find himself a decent Vulture bike before they were all taken. Under normal circumstances, he would have asked Raynor if he could take his bike. Raynor's Vulture was the envy of anyone who had ever ridden the beautiful beast before. It was heavily locked up, and refused to everyone except Raynor himself, and extremely rarely, Matt himself. Tychus didn't have dice of a chance at piloting the thing. It boosted Matt's ego quite a bit. No, for this mission, he'd have to settled for his own bike, the Hornet, a souped up model, though not quite as much as Raynor's.

Five minutes until landing. Sab's voice announced this, instead of the usual adjutant.

A massive wave of Marines, Firebats, Medics, a few Goliaths and odd Tanks, several Vultures all rushed in, making an appearance. The boys were ready to fight. Making his way into a Drop Ship, Tychus's "flag ship", he took a sit next to Righteous Tychus.

"How are you feeling, Ty?"

"Good, I'd say. Can't wait to make some bullet holes in these Kel-Morian motherfuckers and get paid for it."

"You got any Stim?" asked Matt.

"Not on me. I thought you kicked that junk already."

"Not exactly, no. Sorry. Have you seen Dre? She and a Silo are supposed to be helping us out and protecting Vi, but-"

A sudden boom, and the Shuttle was dropped from its mothership, the Hyperion, and separated from its Captain, Matt Horner. He felt a little safe He loved the Hyperion, and hated to be separated from her, but she was in good hands. There were no better hands in the galaxy than Jim Raynor, Sab, and Engineer Swann.

_Approximately five hours later…._

"Surrender now, or we will have no choice but to eradicate your forces. I repeat, surrender now, or we'll fucking kill you."

Matt sometimes wondered why he always insisted on offering his enemies the chance to surrender. They never took it, stupidity on their part, yes. Mercenaries could be bloodthirsty, and would often fight to the last man, jacked up on a cocktail of Stim Pack and human adrenaline. But if fighting to the last man was what they wanted, it was what they got. Tychus led his massive army of Marines and Firebats against the remaining forces, eradicating them. And as for defense, Matt wasn't called the strategic genius of the Terran Confederacy for nothing. He'd set up a solid Siege Tank-and-Bunker defense around their base, sprinkled with some Spider Mines.

When they first arrived on the planet, they landed dangerously close to the main Command Center base of the Combine, where the biggest majority of the mineral mining was taking place. Dangerous, for them, that is. They quickly laid siege to the place, and after neutralizing all soldiers, Matt Horner contacted the leader of the Combine's division through ComSat, to offer him a chance to leave peacefully. A well dressed, sleazy looking fellow named Cardinini.

"We, the Kel-Morian Combine, do not negotiate with your kind, pirate scum."

"If you don't like the way I negotiate, foreman, than I will have no choice but to have my man Tychus J. Findlay negotiate with you instead. And believe me-"

"-You won't like the way I negotiate, punk," Tychus interrupted from behind, interrupting Matt's sentence.

"You greatly underestimate the might of the Combine. What you just took out was but a fraction of our mighty military. We'll send your criminal asses packing back to Korhal, where Mengsk will have you, pirate scum."

Of course, as with most rants by men in expensive suits, this was an overblown bluff. The "mighty military" of the Kel-Morian Combine lasted around six minutes under the heavy fire of the Raynor's Raiders. Several Drop Ships were seen fleeing as quickly as possible, before they were completely annihilated. But since none of the captured ones contained Cardinini, he presumably escaped. The fringe world yokels cheered as their oppressors fled. The Marshall and Deputy paid Matt in cash, personally. Around seven hundred thousand Dominion recognized credits, shiny new. He didn't ask where a fringe local would get his hands on such commodity. It didn't seem polite, and besides, there were quite a few questions Matt wouldn't have liked to be asked either, all of them involving stealing from the Dominion. The gang celebrated their absolute victory by setting up a camp and drinking and partying with the locals.

"Pity that foreman escaped. I would have liked to kill his ass myself," said Tychus.

"Me too. The sleazy prick. We didn't even need to use that nuke. Where's Vi, I wonder? And Dre?"

"Had any dreams you want to tell me about?"

"No. Sometimes, I'll walk around, thinking I'm dreaming. And I'll wake up, and realize, I'm not."

Vi and Dre sat in Vi's personal Medical Camp, set up near Matt's Command Center, facing each other.

"I'm tired. They had too many Siege Tanks and Goliaths. Performing all those lockdowns, tiring."

Vi took notes, and nodded.

"Your bother doesn't like me, does he?"

"No, no. He loves you. He knows I'm safe when I'm with you."

"I don't believe you. I can feel him. He thinks I'm a danger. Just like everyone else. I'm just a killing machine to them."

"Let's try to view things on the more positive side. I mean, they don't think you're useless or anything."

Nothing from Dre. She hated it when that happened, when she would just shut up completely. Dre was a Ghost. Some kind of a special Ghost that Jim found, somewhere off one of the sectors of Braxis. From the moment she first set foot on board the Hyperion, naked and covered with towel, dripping wet, everyone knew she wasn't an ordinary Ghost. But no one asked questions. She was good at what she did, an asset to the Raiders. But no one trusted her completely either. As the most skilled Medic in the forces, Vi was commissioned by Jim to help de-program her completely. A task, much easier said than done. Her Ghost programming turned her into a walking Rubik's Cube. She had personality gaps the size of Battle Cruisers. Didn't even remember her own name.

"Today, I killed thirty two men, and shot two and left them both for dead. Have you ever killed anyone, before?"

"No," said Vi, shaking her head.

"I sometimes read some of the Marines. Not many of them killed up close before. Most of them don't even see the faces of their targets. But the ones they do. When they do it, they feel pain. I don't feel anything. Is that bad? Am I a monster?"

Vi laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You're not a monster, Dre. You're a good friend, and we all love you."

"You're using the royal we again, Vi."

The door of the camp slid open, and Matt walked in.

"Vi. I'd been looking all over for you. Still with the, uh, the Ghost?"

"Matt, she has a name. Dre."

"Whatever. I want to talk to you in private, you know, where she can't read our minds or anything."

Before Vi could protest, Matt dragged her out. The last thing she saw before exiting the camp, was a rather understanding look from Dre. As understanding as her generally blank face can get, anyway.

"Matt, what was that for? That was very, very rude. Dre has self-esteem problems as it is, and you're not helping the de-programming process."

"Of course I'm not! Vi, do you realize what kind of fucked up trouble you're getting yourself into? What if she one day decided to flip out and kill us all? She's a time bomb. They all are, Ghosts. They're only good until you stick those chips in their spines and make them zombies, you take them out, they flip out and start killing people-"

"Stop it, Matt! Dre is a good girl. She's a friend, and I want to help her find herself again."

"A good girl? Good girls don't run around launching nuclear weapons at people, Vi. Give me a break. Just look at Sarah Kerrigan. She was a Ghost too, before she turned into a psycho Zerg killing machine."

"Not all Ghosts are killing machines!"

"Yes they are, Vi. Let's face it. The only reason Jim keeps her around, is because she's even more of a killing machine than any other Ghosts we've seen before. I've seen her do some scary things. Look, let's put it this way: I just don't trust anything that gets surrounded by a dozen Firebats, and kills them all without even breaking a sweat, ok? That's just not very fucking normal. I don't mind her protecting your ass on the battle field, but stay clear of her."

"I won't flip out and kill you."

Matt yelped a little, and turned around, to see Dre. Standing there, looking like an innocent little lamb in that Ghost suit of hers. A killer in lamb's clothing, that is.

"Of course not. That's what they all say."

"Vi is my friend. I won't hurt her."

"Get away from me. Come on Vi. We still have a few more kegs of Antabeer. I know how much you love that stuff."

With that, he hastily cleared the room, leaving Vi alone with Dre again.

"I'm sorry about him. He's really paranoid and overprotective-"

"It's ok. I understand where he's coming from."

"No, you shouldn't. What he said was wrong, Dre. You're a human being."

"Not to him. Not to Tychus. Not to any of the SCV pilots, or the Firebats. And not to me. Sometimes, I wish everybody was a telepath like me. So they could read me, and see how hard I'm trying. And sometimes, I have a hard time believing you're not a telepath like me, because of it."

Antabeer was first developed in Antiga Prime, but now manufactured all over the Koprulu Sector, even in Tarsonis. It was strong stuff, tasted great, and was cheap. On partying occasions like these, after victorious jobs, the Raiders drank enough of it to create a new ocean on Korhal. Drunk Marines singing, making you wish it was possible to un-hear things. Matt Horner sat in the middle of the make shift bar set up for this drunken partying occasions, drinking, until he was approached by Tychus.

"Something on yer mind?"

"What do you care?"

"Just tryin' to be a friend, pal. Loosen up for once, tight ass. We just won a lot of money, and sent a lot of Combine dumbfucks home unhealthy."

"How long have you known Jim?"

"For a while, now. I first served under him when he was backwater Marshall back on the fringe, before they locked me up."

"You go farther back than me. But I go farther back than everyone except you. No wonder we're the only true believers left."

"True believers?"

"We're not criminals, Ty, remember? We have a goal."

"Oh yeah, that's right. We're just working these oddjobs until we can raise enough funds to attack Mengsk, unite the Terran forces with the Protoss, and then attack the Zerg. To be honest, I've stopped believing that crap a long time ago. But hell, if Jim will go after it, I'll be right besides him. He's too good a friend. He sees a side of me everyone seems to just ignore."

"Have you seen some of these new recruits? They join us, thinking they're here to make lots of money. They're all petty criminals with no goals."

"Well, I don't know about all this fancy goals stuff, but anyone who badmouths Jim is gonna get a dose of old Tychus style negotiating. Antabeer?"

"Thanks."

Tychus poured Matt a cup of the stuff, which he drank down. He had too much on his mind, about Jim, about his sister, about that goddamned Ghost.

The rowdy room suddenly turned silent, and everyone, including Tychus and Matt, turned their attention to the source of the silence. Dre had walked into the room.

"I'm just passing by. Friends."

Indeed, she only passed by through the bar, outside into the camps. To patrol, maybe? Against what? The Combine was crushed. But as soon as she left, the room began to bustle again, and a few boys near Matt began mouthing off.

"Did you see that? Is that that super Ghost you were telling me about?"

"Yeah. I hear she once snapped a guy's neck for looking at her funny. Honestly, why the hell do we keep her around?"

"She kills people really well, I guess. I don't know. Raynor is a Zergin' dumbfuck, what with all his preaching about overthrowing the Dominion and what not. He's a goddamn pirate leader, ok? He needs to stop thinking he's some kind of big damn messiah-"

The Marine didn't get to finish his sentence, because about then, Matt took the liberty of leaping up and crashing his jug of Antabeer over his head, and proceeded to ram him against the wall.

"Get out of here. I don't ever want to see your sorry ass with the Raiders ever again, you goddamn pickpocket. If you want to commit crime in the name of nothing so fucking badly, be my guest, but let me catch you desecrating the good name of Marshall James Jesus Christ Raynor again, and I swear, I will feed you alive to Zerglings, you lousy piece of shit. Now fuck off."

With that, Matt let the frightened rookie down and exited the cold, silenced bar.

"And stop fucking around with Ghosts!"

Meanwhile, away from the heavily fortified Raynor's Raiders encampment, there was also a party being thrown, by the fringers who inhabited the sector, natively. They had every reason to party. Thanks to their storage of mysteriously acquired cash, they were able to free themselves from the fate of being eternal slaves to various large corporate leaders. A fate, that had stricken so many fellow fringers. Not caught by the festive mood however, was Kevin Morrow, sitting at the edge of his family's shack, watching the Raider's encampment through an endless forest of crops. His father took a seat next to him.

"So, you stil haven't given up that pipe dream, eh?"

"Pipe dream? Dad, look at us. We're fringe squibs. They don't respect us. When they came, they took us so easily. I could leave, and I could come back and bring us some respect. I could become a Dominion Commander, and then, our family will have a name to be proud of. I could do all that."  
"Son, there are some folks who are meant to fly around in space ships and fight aliens, and then there are just some folks like us, who were meant to just farm crops."

"Why? So we can sit around here, until some other Core World company comes down and takes us over again? Aren't you sick of living in fear everyday? Fear of aliens, fear of other Terrans?"

"But where would we find the money to send you off into the Core Worlds? I'm sorry. I truly am. But like I said, some folks are just born luckier. If God meant for us to be respected and strong, well, we wouldn't have been born fringers."

Having offered all the consolation a father could offer to a son, he left, leaving Kevin to wallow in his sadness. Could he, possibly, ask these Raiders if he could join them? Even if they were just a bunch of mercenaries for hire, and he'd be just another cannon fodder to them, something was always better than nothing. Could he do that, possibly? A drunk figure walking his way, cursing loud enough to summon buggers all the way from Char, snapped Kevin from his thoughts.

"Hey, keep it down there!"

The cursing figure stopped stumbling and screaming a few seconds, just long enough to throw a bottle his way, and run up to him. The bottle missed, but a series of angry fists coming his way in the next few seconds didn't.

"Don't fuck with me, fringe boy. I'm not in the mood to pick fights with farm yokels like you, but I will, if I have to."

While scared, Kevin did sense an opportunity. He never saw this man before. He was most likely with the mercenaries.

"Hey, are you a Raider?"

"Are you an ugly dumbass? Now fuck off and suck off a cow or something, farm boy."

"Wait! Why aren't you with the rest of them at the camp?"

"Because they're all Zergin' retards, that's why. Now shut up, before I start making bullet holes in you."  
"Look, I'm just looking for an opportunity. You Core World people like money, right? I mean, I got some skills, you know, you slicks could give me a job. What do you think?"

"Sorry kid, but we have no need for cow squeezers where we're going."

"How much work can it take to lob bombs and shoot things?"

"Way more than what churning butter, I can tell you. Just fuck off. We have enough stupid rookies as it is, without you compounding on the problem. Leave me alone."

Then, he proceeded to kneel down by a ditch and sigh, while the boy watched. Silence followed, both parties too caught up in various emotions to speak, before Matt finally said something.

"What's that smell?"

"You're right by the cesspit, uh, sir."

Yelping, he leapt up and ran away from where he was sitting, dusting himself.

"You could have told me that earlier, man."

"What, and risk getting another bottle thrown at me? No thank you."

Matt looked around a little. Behind him, in the Raiders' camp, there was still commotion, whereas the fringers had calmed down a little. Stim Pack jacked soldiers could literally party all night if they wanted to, the disgusting hogs. This boy, who looked at most 16, didn't look like he had much of a company either, and seemed amiable, despite having been attacked so viciously.

"So uh, what's your name?" asked Matt.

"Kevin. Kevin Morrow, sir."

"Ah, you're not one of my boys. No need to call me sir."

"Sorry, sir. I mean uh, sorry."

"The name's Matt. Captain Matt Horner of the Hyperion, pleased to meet you. Sorry about earlier. I was a little ratty."

"It's fine. We'd all have taken way worse beatings everyday, if you guys didn't show up to save us all."

"No need to make saints out of a bunch of criminals. You got any Antabeer?"

"No. We only drink malted beer around here, none of that fancy Core World stuff."

"Are you joking? Wait, never mind. Compared to this place, Antiga Prime is pretty core. Tell you what. If you wait just right here for about fifteen minutes or so, I'll bring us back some free bottles of Altabeer to talk some stuff over. How about it?"

"What kind of stuff?"

"Like that job that you offered me earlier, with me, onboard with the Raynor's Raiders."

"I'm in."

After retreating back to his office in the Command Center briefly, to pick up Antabeer from the fridge, and shoot up some Stim, he came back to the boy. They drank, watching the loud party go on.

"So, you've always wanted to go out into the Core Worlds and stuff?"

"Yeah. It's always been my dream to join the Dominion Military, and fight them ugly aliens and stuff."

"If you're looking to fight ugly shit, the Dominion Military is the wrong place to look at. That's where you get ugly shit barking orders at you. Believe me, the Core Worlds are not pretty."

"They've got to be better than this shithole."

"Ever heard of the Zerg?"

"I've heard they're these giant aliens. That's about it. Are they for real?"

"Sadly, yes. And we're being a bunch of heroes, trying to fight them. To raise enough funds, so we can overthrow the Dominion, and fight the Zerg side-by-side with the Protoss."

"Protoss?"

"Never mind. The point is… You have a dad?"  
"Yeah."

"Does he want you to stay here?"  
"How did you know?"  
"You should take his advice."

Matt then heard a slight bustling from a distance. And then, in seconds, the bustling turned into a shrieking roar, as a blurring figure jumped out from the shadows at blinding speed, latching itself on to Kevin. But before any harm could be done, five booms rang out, and the creature fell dead, its disgusting blood spraying all over. Matt kicked it off of a dazed and frightened Kevin.

"What the Hell was that?"  
"That would be a Zergling, and we gotta run, FAST!"

"No, wait, my parents!"

"It's too late, RUN! RUN!"

Puling the kid by his wrists, Matt Horner and Kevin Morrow ran for their lives, as the shrieking, jumping monsters multiplied at a frightening rate in the shadows, and before long, there were no less than a few hundred of them everywhere, some hot on their trails, most simply destroying and murdering.

"Zerg! There's FUCKING ZERG ON THE AREA! MAN THE STATIONS!"

"With all due respect, Captain, is this some sort of a joke?"

"No, it is NOT a fucking joke Julian. Order your men into battle formation, now! Tychus, you too! There's Zerg!"  
"Too late! They're all over us!"  
There were fifty Bunkers, thirty two Turrets, twenty four Siege Tanks, six hundred something Marines, Firebats, and Medics, and Spider Mines covering the area, but the defense still crumbled like a Lego buildings under the onslaught of the swarm. The Hydralisks, the Zerglings, and Mutalisks were everywhere, and while the massive firepower the Raiders had assembled under Matt Horner's orders kept them at bay well, it wouldn't be long until it was all completely breached, and they would be torn apart by these disgusting insects. But how? How would the Zerg find themselves here? On a fringe planet? Last anybody had heard of the Zerg, they'd all fled to Char, or the various moons that surrounded the volcanic, barely-habitable planet. Even Jim Raynor hadn't had any contact with them in years. Why here? Why now?

"What do I do?"  
Taking a break from barking orders at his men to get into battle formations and fight alongside Tychus Findlay and Julian Byrne, Matt looked next to him. The boy, Kevin, looked about ready to piss his pants. He spied his Vulture in front of him, in the Command Center parking lot. It was a miracle it hadn't been destroyed yet. Blasting a Zergling out of his way with his handgun, he hopped himself and the boy on to the hover bike.

"Hold tight, alright? Really tight, tighter than you've ever held before."

And they took off, with Morrow wrapped around him like a parasite. Horner blasted and bashed no less than two dozen Zerglings and Hydralisks out of his way with his Vulture's attached Hellfire Cannon and his handgun, as he sped his way towards a small, secure looking bunker in the corner. They finally stopped the hellish race, and Matt ordered Kevin to get off.

"Get inside that bunker. Tell 'em Matt Horner sent you, and they'll protect you with their lives. Stay in there."

"Yes sir."

The boy leapt into the bunker. He handled himself pretty well, considering the situation. Most fringers who'd had their first encounter with the Zerg in this manner would have had a heart attack by now. There was chaos everywhere. The Marines were losing their ground, and being torn apart by the Zerglings, and the Goliaths weren't faring much better against the Hydralisks and Guardians either. And by now, a small, but sizeable Devourer population had amassed in the sky to take down the Wraiths.

"Stand your ground! Remain on your post, and keep fighting! Don't retreat!"  
Suddenly, Matt was tripped off his ground by a slithering tail, and faced a Hydralisk looming above him. He fired his handgun at the thing, but only a few shots hit, and even those merely made scratches on the beast's carapace. It got in his face, snarled, and pinned him to the ground with its claws, before someone blasted its head away with a single blow.

"Better be more careful, Captain."

He couldn't see the savior of his life, but he could hear her. She was invisible, using the trademark ability of the Ghosts. A massive, white-clad armor loomed over him, and began zapping his arms with bright white beams, slowly healing the wounds.

"Vi? What are you doing here?"  
"Stand still. I'm a Medic, you're a wounded soldier, now you're healed, get up and fight."

"Thanks."

A Marine soldier fell besides them, as Matt picked himself up to thank his sister for saving him. Dead, the poor thing. Matt picked up his Gauss Rifle, which felt infinitely heavy without any Marine armor, but manageable. He fired all over the place, hoping to hit whatever Zerg he could.

"They've breached defense sir! We have to retreat!"  
"We're getting killed!"

"Is that an Ultralisk?"

But even in the midst of this chaotic mass of doom, Matt was able to hear a small voice from his Command Center adjutant, despite the said Command Center being assaulted by a massive army of Hydralisks. The voice gave him hope, and a need to run as fast as possible, screaming at others to do the same.

"Nuclear launch detected."

Over Tarsonis, the Hyperion and its fleet loomed endlessly. Tarsonis was, despite being the industrial center of the Terran Dominion, barely guarded. Not they needed much guarding, anyway. The Koprulu Liberation Front was pathetic in its aerial offensive tactics. If they tried to do as much as touch Tarsonis, the few rail guns and Turrets covering the planet would blast them to pieces. And other enemies of the Dominion weren't much better either. Shortly after the now-legendary Battle of Omega, where Sarah Kerrigan single handedly defeated an immense fleet of Artanis's greatest Protoss warriors, UED's mighty Terran war machines, and Mengsk's army of ruthless Dominion soldiers, the Zerg mysteriously cleared out of all planets they previously held, except Aiur, which they kept. This meant Tarsonis was free to take and rebuild once again. And rebuilt, it was. While it would never be restored to her former glory in the days of the Terran Confederacy, Mengsk and his boys didn't do a bad job overall, considering factors. Jim Raynor looked out the window of the Hyperion. It'd been a while since he came here, to Tarsonis. A year, maybe? But now, he felt he'd most likely be visiting much more often from now on, since Sliven himself had a job for him. The capital of Tarsonis was a massive wonder, aptly christened Tarsonis City. And within Tarsonis City, was a slum area known only as the Gutters, where corruption and sleaze was such the way of life, the Tarsonis Police Force, TPF, didn't even make an attempt to clean it up. When the planet was sacked a few years back, its crime lord, Fagin, who made his base in the Gutters, mysteriously disappeared and never quite reappeared, making an opening for the likes of Sliven to take over. The Gutters were actually one of the more untouched areas of the planet. It seems it was too disgusting, even for the Zerg to stomach. The planet could be easily infiltrated, even by a heavily wanted Battle Cruiser like the Hyperion, simply by broadcasting a pirate signal, to confused the Missile Turrets, and maneuvering through some space debris, to land on an empty patch of land. Engineer Swann was a genius pirate signal broadcaster, and there was no pilot better then Sab in the Koprulu Sector. Jim only had Matt to thank, for bringing her on board the Hyperion.

"Marshall Raynor, we're preparing for landing, sir," said Sab, from her pilot seat.

"Good. Mister Swann. Is the signal jammer ready?"  
"Yessir. I got it all packed up, nice, and good to go."

Swann was a large, heavy set man with a mechanical arm. Jim never asked how he lost it. Quite the opposite to Sab, a small, light weight girl, with a perpetual smile, even when she was being used as Matt Horner's favorite verbal punching bag.

They made a sound landing, on a completely empty patch of land, about an hour drive from Tarsonis City. Normally, entering the city would mean getting past all sorts of identification checks and whatnot, but since they were entering through the lawless Gutters, none of this was necessary.

"Will you be going alone again, sir? Or do you want some guards with you? It's dangerous down there," said Sab, with a genuinely caring look.

"I'll be fine, Sab. Thanks for the concern, though. I'll be back in a jiffy, I promise."

With that, Jim lit himself a cigarette, mounted upon his familiar Vulture bike, and sped out the Hyperion, towards Tarsonis City. But not before checking his guns. Sab was right. Sliven wasn't to be trusted, and the Gutters could be deadly.

A nuclear holocaust struck the area like nothing anyone had ever seen before, sending many Zergs, and a few Raiders, to a much warmer place. The blast, being only one Silo, failed to kill all the Zergs, but did whittle their number down significantly, allowing the remaining Raiders to scare the rest off, or kill them all. Either way, they had survived. At a heavy cost, yes, but it was survival nonetheless. Some survival was better than no survival. Tychus was slightly wounded, but he was too busy killing to notice. This was his first time fighting the Zerg. He loved it.

"Those buggers go down so easy, it ain't even funny. Bring it on again. I'll kill 'em all."

Captain Byrne survived, mostly unharmed, although most of his air force was destroyed by the Mutalisks and the feared Devourers. The Medic Corps were busier than ever before, tending to wounded men left and right. Vi, being the Medic Commander, was the busiest of them all. The unwounded soldiers all boasted of their kills with the Zergs, of how many Zerglings, Hydralisks, or even the feared Lurkers, they'd killed.

"You saw that Hunter Killer I blasted? He was a fast one, but I got his ass!"  
"See this scar? Got that from a Zergling. I was surrounded by seven of 'em, but I shot up Stim and I fucked them all with my Medic girl."

Kevin had also survived the assault, but he was too broken to speak, or do anything other than weeping. Matt had explained to him the nature of the Zerg.

"I'm really sorry, kid. But your folks aren't coming back. These buggers, they don't take no prisoners. They catch you, they tear you apart, eat your insides, and sometimes infest what's left of you into one of them. And if you're very, very lucky, they skip that last part."

He was understandably devastated, and had to be left alone. But Matt was looking for someone, all the same. The person who was responsible for their survival today. A nuclear silo of such a small size couldn't be launched so quickly, or with such force, without the aid of powerful Psi Energy guidance. Dre had saved them all, and she was merely sitting in front of the Command Center, now fixed up and patched completely by the SCV pilots, sipping a can of C4, a popular fruit drink she seemed to enjoy. He approached her rather cautiously.

"Thanks. For saving our asses, I mean. And saving my ass. That was you, who killed that Hydra, wasn't it? I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. So, thanks."

"Does this mean we're friends now?"

She said this in a completely monotone voice, and without any facial expressions. But there was a sense of innocence to that blankness. Whereas before, the blankness made her seem somehow like a machine, or a non-human creature, now, it gave her an almost childlike quality. She was pure. She didn't expect any medals, or awards in return. She only wanted to be friends. Much to his great surprise, Matt found himself warming up to her, just a little.

"We'll see."

"I only want a friend. More friends. Vi says you're a good friend. Can't you be mine?"

"Maybe you should be my friend instead, eh? Besides, I'm not a great guy. I can't kick ass like you can."

Dre gave a faint nod and an understanding gleam in her eye, her version of a smile. Matt gave a weak smile himself, and turned to leave, having sufficiently thanked her. Maybe Vi was right. Or maybe she was wrong. How can anyone trust a Ghost? But she did seem so pure. And she did save their lives. Matt felt like going up to all those arrogant Marines, Firebats, and Goliath pilots and yell at them. Look you morons, that Ghost saved your asses from getting eaten by the Zerg. Show some appreciation, will you?

"Captain Horner, sir!"

Matt turned around. It was Julian. Matt patted him on the shoulder.

"What's up, man? I thought you were preparing us to leave this planet, pronto, before they come back."

"I know, sir. But I thought you should know, there's a Terran force, just outside our encampment, wanting to see us, sir."

"What?"

Pushing his way through a crowd of Raiders, who were all staring into a single direction, Matt himself saw what they were all looking at. A gang of Terran soldiers. Very scant, only a few Marines, mostly just Infantry Units, but at the forefront of them was a sleazy, smiling figure Horner recognized all too well from hologram messages. Foreman Cardinini, of the Kel-Morian Combine, who attempted to colonize the planet, and was defeated. What was he doing here? And why wasn't he attacked by the Zerg?

"We wish to speak to Captain Matt Horner, of the Raynor's Raiders!" said Cardinini, through an amplifier phone.

"I'm going to talk to him, alone," said Matt to Tychus, standing next to him.

"Are you joking? Or are you just fucking insane?" asked Ty.

"Well, maybe not exactly alone."

Matt Horner walked out of the encampment, towards the Foreman, aiming to speak face to face. If what he suspected was true, then the situation was worse than he'd ever expected. There was only one way Cardinini could have survived the Zerg attack, and he prayed it wouldn't be it.

"I'm impressed, Captain. You have the balls to speak face to face with someone who can kill you right now, just by snapping his fingers."

"Do I look like my name is Foreman Cardinini? Now, let's talk. What the hell did you want to say before getting your ass kicked again?"

"I only wished to offer you and your men a chance to surrender. We, the Kel-Morian Combine, are willing to pay you and your men a sizeable sum of money to leave this planet, and allow us to colonize the planet."

"You won't be able to. There are Zerg on this planet, and everyone is dead."

"Oh, not everyone. We managed to salvage a few of these fringe squibs before they were all dead. And as for the Zerg…. William, why don't you show our friend Captain Horner our latest toy?"  
A Marine, by the name of William, came up with a machine in his hand. A cold chill ran up his spine, as his worst suspicions were confirmed. He could recognize that vaunted machine from a mile away.

"You monster…. Where the hell did you get your slimy hands on that?" asked Matt, shaking with rage.

"What, this Psi Emitter? A few years ago, a Dominion Carrier Ship crashed on this small planet, which is how these yokels got the money they hired you with. By raiding the ship. The ship also contained one of the last Psi Emitters in existence. These squibs of course, didn't understand the significance of the device, and left it alone, unaware that you can use it to draw in and control one of the most beautiful and powerful creatures in the universe. The Dominion lost interest in Emitters, after being bitterly defeated at Omega. But luckily, we were able to salvage it."

"You have no idea what you're messing with. The Zerg are way beyond the realm of your control. You're playing with fire, boy."

"Oh, I beg to differ. The only one playing with fire here is you Captain. We have rebuilt our forces, while yours was nearly exterminated by our mighty alien friends, if it wasn't for your accursed nuclear silo. You won't be so lucky next time. Now, I suggest you leave and consider my offer, or my men will kill you right here."

Horner clapped his hands, and out of the thin air, a wisp thin figure appeared, flipped in the air at a blurring speed, and held a handgun towards the Foreman's hand, causing all of his men to react.

"A Ghost, eh?"

"Her name is Dre, and she'll paint your fancy suit a nice wine red with your brain fluid, unless you disarm your men and leave, right now. You're not the only one with fancy tricks, boy."

"Clever. You're a very smart man, Captain. I'm positive you will make the right choice."

"Oh, I will. And believe me, the right choice will end with you getting your ass eaten alive by a Lurker."

Raynor parked his Vulture, just outside the Gutters, before activating a built-in Defensive Matrix, to make it theft-proof. Even though it was technically outside the Gutters, you could never be too careful. The sun was slowly setting when they landed on Tarsonis, and by the time Raynor arrived, it was night. Walking around in the Gutters at night was never safe, not even if you were Jim Raynor. But for now, it had to be done. Tall, dilapidated buildings dominated the area, and the narrow streets were loaded with drug dealers, junkies, prostitutes, muggers, and other assorted trash. Jim made sure to holster his old T-Series model where it could be seen, as a warning to muggers, who had more to lose from trying to rob Jim Raynor than Raynor himself. Breaking, and broken, neon lights were the only sources of light provided, but in front of a small establishment, called "The Fish Place" from the sign, was a man that Jim recognized. A tall, lanky figure in a dark trench coat, and messy dirty blond hair, with a half burned cigarette in his mouth, Jaden Nero waved at Jim as a greeting.

"Took you long enough to get here," said Jaden.

"I know. I had to drop off a few of my boys down by the fringe for a job."

"Jesus, you workaholic. Want a smoke?"

"No thanks."

"Stim? On the house?"  
"I don't buy anything around these parts."

"Wise policy."

"So, you gonna show me down to Sliven or what? You told me he had something to say."

"Shit, forgot all about that. Yeah, the word on the street says he has a job for you. Seemed pretty important, lots of money involved. Says its dangerous, and doesn't trust anyone outside the very best."

"So, take me."

"You know how much I hate going down there, Jim. Sliven is a worm. I can't stomach him."  
"But he's a worm with lots of money, Jaden. I can't go down there myself."

"Shit, fine. But only because you're a friend. This ain't something I'd normally do."

Nero lit himself another cigarette and walked down the dirty streets of the Gutters, saying a few hellos. Nero was an insider man. He knew everyone, and everyone was on amiable terms with him, despite him essentially being a sleazy con artist. But he was a go-to guy for information regarding anything, and if something happened, he was the first to know of it. He and Jim had a long, and sometimes ugly, history together, but all in all, their friendship paid off. Nero stopped in front of a well lit, rather large night club. The Blue Angel, the sign read. It was a club, and a Stim Den, all in one, and Sliven's court. Sighing, Jaden made entrance, and Jim followed him. After passing through a passage, they were stopped by a large, hermaphroditic looking man, with no hair.

"It's Jaden Nero, here for a visit with Sliven. The good fellow here is with me."

The bald thug nodded and cleared way, revealing an entrance. The music was loud enough to be heard from here. Patting the guard on his arm, Nero slipped him a cigarette.

"Thank you, my man."

Then, he opened the door and the two entered. The music was the least of the place's many, many flaws. There was a group in the corner, devouring something ravenously. Something Jim couldn't quite make out. A harmless looking game of poker in the corner, not so harmless looking players. Stim addicts, shooting up. After walking up some stairs, they came across another door, and another large, bald guard. Only, this one spoke to them first.

"Well, look what the wind blew in."  
"It's Jaden, with a friend Sliven is interested in meeting."

"The password?"

Nero leaned over, and whispered something into the guard's ear. He nodded, and cleared the passage. Nero opened the door, and the in they went, into the closest thing on Tarsonis to Hell.

Sliven's courts was rather large. Most of the space were taken up by various lackeys, junkies, gadgets, and other disgusting consorts and entourage of Sliven. Sliven himself sat on a small chair, talking to someone he dismissed as soon as he noticed Nero and Raynor. He was surrounded by a group of scantily clad women, smoking. Sliven himself was a disgusting sight to behold, and Raynor was convinced that the man was part Zerg. His skin was flaky, almost to the point of being reptilian, and his eyes were equally snake-like in its appearance and gaze. His nails weren't long, but not well kept either. The only thing well kept about this man was his outfit, a rather rich looking fabric. His hair was grey and unkempt.

"Hello there, Jaden! What brings you to my humble abode?"  
"I have a friend here, who can solve a few problems you've been looking to eliminate. Jim Raynor, Sliven Kalavera, Sliven Kalavera, Jaden."

The crime lord gave a toothy smile, which Raynor did not return. Jim couldn't help but notice a scream of absolute suffering coming from the deep, darker corners of the room.

"Oh, so this is the legendary Jim Raynor I've heard so much about? Eh, I'd offer such a powerful man a seat but uh, I have none. So, shall we talk some business? I need a few rats I'd like to get rid of."

"Believe me. So do I."

"Let's just leave. We got our pay."

That was the general consensus of the troops among the Raiders, including Tychus Findlay and much to his surprise, Matt Horner's own sister, Vi.

"I thought you were suppose to be the compassionate, nice one. What happened to all that? Was it just a façade?"

"Matt, face it. We can't beat them. The Zerg, their numbers are way too massive. We've already used up our one effective weapon against them. The Combine won, but we got our pay. The logical thing to do is to leave."

"What about those innocent people they have captive?"

"They're goners, ok?" said Tychus, walking in.

"Besides, when were you such a Zergin' hero anyway? I thought you were always the more vocals ones in complaining about Jim's pipe dreams about overthrowing Mengsk, liberating the Terrans, killing Kerrigan and whatnot."

That was true. But the appearance of the young boy, Kevin Morrow, changed all that. He more than expected the Raiders to save his family and friends from the Zerg and the Kel-Morian Combine. He knew it would happen.

"We're just a mercenary gang, kid. We're no better than the average space pirate."  
"But I thought you guys were fighting the Dominion, because they wouldn't fight the Zerg, or stand up for the rights of Terrans everywhere. Isn't that what you're going to do now?"

"I'm sorry."

"You're no better than them, then. All you care about is money."

Julian Byrne was of course, as always, for leaving. Whenever that stupid prettyboy found an opportunity to disagree with the Hyperion's Captain and get away with it, he took it.

"I'll leave it to you to decide, Cap," said Vi, leaving.

"I'll do whatever you want to, Captain Horner," said Dre, just behind him. He didn't even notice that she was in the room. He hated that about Ghosts. They came and went without a trace or sound. But he did appreciate one voice that didn't immediately dissent to his decision.

"Thank you, Dre."

Cardinini sat in the comfort of his office, laughing and thinking about how victorious he was. He had these fringe squibs in his hands, he controlled the Zerg, who his men found utterly repulsive, but who cared what they thought? After Raynor's stupid gang of criminals left, he'd take the Psi Emitter and use it to lob all these insects into a meteor belt somewhere, or something, then continue his plan. The Psi Emitter could make the Combine the most powerful Terran group of them all. It was an immensely potent weapon. He could most likely count on a promotion, then. It was by pure luck that he found the crashed ship, where the Emitter was. And even better luck that he had a scientist with him who recognized the otherwise useless looking gizmo, and enhance it so that it could not only draw in the Zerg, but control them.

But the Emitter's powers were limited. After a certain number had been reached, the Psi Energy it created couldn't control all of the swarm. And the few Zerg that fell out of its reach went back to the control of their regular master, Sarah Kerrigan of Char. Cardinini was business savvy, but not particularly bright, and did not count on regulating the number of his newly formed Zerg army, to keep his Psi Emitter useful, and to prevent a Zerg mutiny.

A small Lair operating outside the Emitter's control mutated into a Hive, and began birthing Hydralisks at an unheard of rate. Now, the fury of the Swarm would be unleashed on those who foolishly believed the Zerg could be controlled like puppets. The Overlords gave the order for a pair of Lurkers, accompanied by Hydralisks, to launch a covert attack on the Science Facility containing the Psi Emitter. Cardinini had made sure the facility was well guarded, but the guards were no match for the fury of the Hydralisk rush. The facility, and the Psi Emitter containing it, was devastated in seconds.

And the full fury of the Zerg descended upon the Kel-Morian Combine, like the fist of an enraged demon.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll let you fly with us on board the Hyperion."

"No thanks. I'll just go join the Dominion. You're all the same, all of you. You're all slime bags."

Kevin and Matt sat in a small cantina, drinking some spare Antabeer. Matt wanted to console him.

"I know it seems that way, but we really aren't. I'm so sorry."

"Don't even try to make excuses. You're a coward."

Someone came into the room. It was Julian Byrne.

"What is it Byrne? Come to tell me you've sent that SOS signal to the Hyperion?"

"No sir. I've come to say, I'm sorry. For disrespecting your authority, and helping to mock your decisions. I do apologize."

Horner gave a flicker of a smile.

"Thanks Byrne. Maybe you're not so bad after all. For a transvestite, I mean."  
"You know who else ain't that bad?"  
Tychus came into the room, beaming.

"If it isn't Righteous Tychus. What in the name of Sarah Kerrigan's left wing are you doing here?"  
"To tell you the same thing Byrne said. That I'm really quite fucking sorry. I'll do whatever you want. If you want me and my boys to go out, kill some Zergs, and rescue fringe squibs or something, hey, I'm up for it."

"And so am I."

It was Vi. She came in through the back door, and waved at Byrne. Matt gave a disgusted sigh.

"If you want to do this rescue thing, the Medic Corps will support you full force, Captain."

"Even if it means facing death?"  
"It's what Jim would want us to do," said Tychus.

Kevin gave a weak smile.

"Damn, this is so cheesy."

"I know Ty. God damn it, now I really don't know what to do-"

A sudden crash rang throughout the bar.

"What was that?"

The group cleared out of the room. A mass of Siege Tanks, Vultures, Wraiths, and other vehicles were charging, alongside Marines and various ground soldiers. But not towards them. They were simply running away.

"Isn't that the Combine hired soldiers? Why are they running?" asked Byrne.

"Beats me? You think I scared them all away?" asked Tychus.

"Keep dreaming," said Matt.

After a few minutes, the soldiers were gone, and a few Marines were cheering, at the idea of their enemies running away. But not Matt. If they were running away, there was something bad about to happen.

"Something terrible is going to happen, unless we run. I can feel it," said Dre, from behind.

"I agree. Byrne, Tychus, prepare for immediate evac, now!"

"What, why? They're the ones running away!"

Then, another boom and crash. From miles and miles away, Matt could see what appeared to be a massive tsunami of orange, purple, and red swarming down upon them.

"It's the Zerg."

"It's THE FUCKING ZERG! PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE FUCKING EVAC, NOW! RUN! RUN! RUUUUUN!" screamed Tychus.

All the while, all Matt could think was how massive this swarm was. It was by far, the biggest swarm of anything, Zerg or whatever, he'd ever seen. Even larger than the onslaught he witnessed upon New Gettysburg those many years ago.

"Sir, a distress signal from Foreman Cardinini, on Daphine Prime."

One of the admins of the Kel-Morian Combine received this call from his secretary, as he flew to meet one of his newly acquired mistresses at a high-class penthouse on Korhal. He was a Korhalite, and not an Antigan or a Tarsonian, like most of his colleagues. She used to be a model, and all he could think about was how amazing it would be to have her, until this distress signal distracted him. Stupid Cardinini, always causing trouble. What was it now? Did he want a promotion? Did he need his mommy? Daphine Prime was an easy enough job, but apparently, he bungled it up, the incompetent Zerg.

"What is it?"

"He says that it's a Code 17, sir. And if I'm not mistaken, isn't that the highest distress ranking possible?"

"Yes, it is. But what the Hell could it possibly be? It's just a goddamn fringe world. Jesus, send a few fleet of Drop Ships to pick him up. When he gets back here, he's a fired man, that's all I know."

"Yes sir."

The Raiders, to their credit, made a decent get away. Into a tiny, out of the way canyon, where the Zerg wouldn't be able to spot them immediately. They fired at the Zerg as they ran, a strategy that rather worked, but they still lost countless men in the process.

"Byrne, you did send in that distress signal, right?"

"Yes, I did sir."

"Good. Jesus Jim, get over here, fast. Don't fail me now, Sab."

An adjutant voice spoke to Matt.

"Sir, the Kel-Morian Combine wishes to speak with you."

"Send them in through ComSat then. I want to know what the Hell is going on myself."

"Yes sir."

A hologram of Cardinini appeared in the middle of Horner's Command Center.

"What the fuck just happened Cardinini, you stupid fuck up?"  
"We lost control of the Zerg. And we need your help."

"I guess the right choice will end with you getting eaten alive by a Lurker after all. Bye, bye."

"Wait, no! Listen, we called in for rescue, but the fleet of Drop Ships, Wraiths, and Valks sent to pick us up were incinerated before they even got here."

"What the hell does that have to do with me?"

"Means, whatever friends you sent to pick you up will be destroyed by these Zerg the same way, unless we combine forces and weaken them a little."

"That is a mighty good idea, Cardinini. I'm impressed. For a retard, you're pretty smart. But you're still gonna get eaten alive by that Lurker, so bye bye."

"No, NO!"

Then, Matt turned off the hologram, leaving only him, Byrne, Vi, and Dre in the room.

"What do we do now?" asked Vi.

"He's right. Unless we can somehow find a way to weaken the Zerg a bit, the Hyperion is toast. We have to somehow weaken them, but we can't let the Combine get ahead of us either. Boys and girls, we have to tasks at hand. Kill the Combine, and weaken the Zerg."

"Yes, but how do we go about weakening the Zerg?" asked Vi.

"I have no idea. Honestly. Could we try destroying Hive Clusters, perhaps? That could work. Since Kerrigan stopped using Cerebrates, the Zerg have been really well controlled, in terms of Psionic Control."

The adjutant began speaking again.

"Sir, a message from Marshall Raynor."

"Patch it through," said Matt, and Jim Raynor's image came up on the Center.

"Jesus guys. What kind of fucked up mess did you all get yourselves into this time?"  
"Long fucking story, Jim, but basically, we're stuck here with only a huge swarm of the Zerg and the Combine soldier boys to keep us company. We need you to pick us up."

"Sab says if we try to go through the Zerg blockade like this, we'll be sliced to bits in minutes."

"I know. We have to weaken the control of the Zerg, and destroy the Combine. Otherwise, they'll build forces and highjack the Hyperion, and that will only happen over my dead fucking body. Can you ComSat the area from there really quick, and see how many Clusters are on us?"

"I'll try. Sab!"

A few seconds passed, and Raynor reappeared and started talking again.

"There are five Hive Clusters in your immediate area, but I'll only need you to take out around say, three? From there, we'll handle it."

"Thanks. God speed, Jim."

"You're the one who needs God speed, Matt."

Jim disappeared.

"We need to formulate a plan. Tychus and Byrne will attack the Combine forces. It shouldn't even be that hard, they're only on the other side of this canyon."

"What about those Zerg?" asked Vi.

"The Zerg will need to be met at full force. Get the Barracks to ready as many Marines and Firebats as humanly possible. Anything that Tychus and Byrne isn't taking is fair play, which leaves us with around a hundred Marines, and fifty Firebats. A few Goliaths, maybe? How is the Medic Corps doing, Vi?"  
"We're thick and good, Cap."

Dre then appeared in the room, by de-cloaking herself.

"Will you stop doing that? Use the door for once, like normal people," said Matt.

"I'm sorry Captain. I'm just used to this way more."

"It's alright, I guess."

"I can help. I could use my Psi emission to distract control between Overlords and their minions just a tiny bit. That can have distracting effect on the Swarm, and weaken them, and maybe make the Hive Clusters easier to hit. Would you like that?"

"Absolutely Dre. Alright then, let's get to work. Tychus and Byrne already left to strike? Good. Let's go."

Vi and Dre exited the room quickly, and Matt just noticed Kevin in the corner.

"Kevin, I didn't see you."

"They're dead now, aren't they?"

No use hiding it now, he supposed.

"I'm sorry kid. I really am. I promise you, I will destroy every last bastard responsible for it. But right now, I have to fly, I'm sorry."

Then, Matt ran out, ready to lead his troops against the Zerg. And Kevin simply stood in the corner, too sad and blown away to even weep anymore. Tears were driven out of him.

Tychus and Byrne did not even offer them a chance to surrender. Poor sportsmanship? Perhaps, but this was Tychus Findlay's idea, and the element of surprise worked rather well. Byrne himself piloted a Wraith, accompanied by a small fleet of other Wraiths, and a sizeable force of Marines. But the true firepower belonged to Tychus's line of Siege Tanks and Vultures. The Goliaths of the Combine, and their weak Firebats tried to cope, but the powerful plasma blasts and thunderous roars of the tanks made short work of them all. Tychus himself however, did not pilot a tank. He never had the patience to learn how to. Instead, he led the Marines on the front line.

"Kill the Barracks, and destroy the Bunkers! Kill anything that moves!"

Tychus Findlay was a walking machine of destruction, ramming, blasting, and ripping his way through all his enemies. His men were not quite as brutal, but just as effective. The Combine's so-called superior weapons, bought through the wealth of money, their formations formulated by hired military experts, all crumbled completely. The Combine's defenses were pathetic, and no match for the Raiders' superior battle experiences.

"We've taken out all their Turrets and Bunkers Tychus. Send in the Vultures, and attack the Command Center with your Marines," ordered Byrne.

Findlay didn't need encouragement from Byrne to carry this task out. The Vultures' bombs caused explosions left and right, depriving life of any Combine men that survived the initial invasion. Then, the Command Center was showered with mass of shells and bullets, before Bryen ordered a stop.

"Why stop here? We have them totaled!" said Tychus.

Then, they all soon saw why Byrne ordered a stop on the attacking of the Command Center. Foreman Cardinini weakly crawled out of the destroyed building, waving a makeshift white flag, made with his expensive shirt.

"I surrender. Please, don't hurt me. Oh God, I don't want to die. I don't want to fucking die."

The Foreman of the Kel-Morian Combine collapsed, and broke down, weeping violently.

"Please don't kill me."

"So, you don't want to die, eh, Mr. Foreman?" asked Tychus.

"No! Please, God, NO!"

"Too fucking bad."

The attack on the Zerg Hive Cluster was rather successful, much to Matt's surprise. Matt was in a Marine suit this time, instead of riding on his Vulture, as was usual. While the Zerg far outnumbered and overpowered his boys, Dre's Psi jammings were proving to be useful.

"Dre, take out every Overlord you see. The less of them there are, the less control they have, the better. They become easier to kill."

Dre complied. Within minutes, bodies of dead, shot down Overlords began covering the Battle Field.

"Line formation, Stim, then blast down anything you see," ordered Matt, through his ComLink, which all Marines and Firebats could hear.

The Marines stood in the back, using the firepower of their Gauss Rifles and their Stim Pack enhanced strength to keep the Zerg down, while the Firebats burned down everything in sight. The Sunken Colonies, and the Zergling floods, all fell like leaves under this kind of might. But suddenly, something began destroying the battle formation, while killing Horner's soldiers. Spikes, rising from the ground. They weren't Sunken Colonies, but it was whittling down Matt's men fast.

"Shit, what are these things!" screamed a Marine, before being impaled to his death.

"Lurkers! Fuck, get some detectors in here!"

A giant, spider-like creature, covered in green cloud, rose from the ground, before stumbling a bit and dying. They were saved, and a Science Vessel loomed overhead.

"Science Vessel. Courtesy of Captain Byrne, no doubt," remarked Vi.

"They must have done it then. The Combine is goners."

A series of powerful Siege Tank blows then saw the end of this Hive. With the destruction of the Hive, the Zerg became completely weakened and passive.

"One down, two to go."

"The next batch will have aerial units, a larger size, and Ultralisks backing them up. And Dre is too tired from having used so much Psionic Energy at once."

"I can perform a few more jams, Captain," said the Ghost.

"No, you did fine. Go back to the base. Command Center, send in reinforcements, I repeat, send in reinforcements. Vi and I will lead our reinforced troops against the western front of the second Hive Cluster. Tychus and his boys can push through the east. That way, we can pincer two Hives at once."

"At once, Captain Horner."

Matt now commanded around three hundred Marines, and a hundred Firebats. But the Zergs counted their men in the thousands. And they had Queens, reaping green slime their way.

"Is this it, just Hydralisks? Seems mighty easy," said Vi.

"Here comes the Mutalisks."

Not just Mutalisks. Guardians were here as well. Two Ultralisks also began taking out Marines, en masse.

"Here comes Goliaths!"  
"Goliaths? I thought Tychus and Byrne had them all on the east!"

"No, here comes a few."  
A squadron of Goliaths began attacking the Mutalisks and the Guardians. The Terrans' ultimate defense against the aerial offense of the Zerg, Mutalisks fell like flies on Zerglings and Sunken Colonies.

"Captain Matt. It's me."

"Kevin? What are you doing here? In a Goliath?"

"I've driven things like this before. I decided to rally a few around that big building of yours and bring it around, just to help out a little."

"Thanks. Shoot down anything that's flying, Kev. Let us deal with the small fry."

Tychus was having a field day. Zerglings and Hydralisks everywhere, just begging to be torn apart completely. Byrne's aerial forces had long retreated, having driven most of the Zergs' aerial fighters west. It didn't matter either way. Before he knew it, Tychus and a few boys were faced against the massive Hive. But under their Gauss Rifles and flack grenades, it went down quite quickly.

"Two Hives down, Captain Horner. The last one is being guarded by Lurkers, and our Science Vessels have been taken down by the Mutalisks."

The Hive was a mighty thing, and very difficult to destroy, even with many men, But it did possess one weakness that Matt knew of. Some of them had a small opening, which you could slip a grenade through. Ones that produced much Larvae were the ones prone to this weakness. Most Hives were better guarded. He had around fifty Marines now, no more Firebats. Vi and the Medic Corps had lasted under the punishment of the Zerg quite well.

"Alright. Boys and girls, let's give it our all and rally. Charge, towards the Hive!"  
"Matt, we'll all get killed."

"No, we won't. Distract the Hydralisks and try to dodge the Lurkers to the best of your abilities. I'm going in."

With that, Horner leapt into the heat of the battle, with a flack grenade in hand. He abandoned his rifle. It was too heavy, and hindered his running ability. Stim Pack ran through him, making him faster than ever before, even in his heavy suit. Men and women were being impaled to death, spined to death, and killed in all sorts of other gruesome ways all around him. He had to do this. This Hive had to go down, or else, they really would all die.

A Lurker Spike scraped his arm, making a large gash. He bled profusely, but none of this mattered. The Hive, so close.

The opening was there. Activating the grenade, he jumped and lobbed it inside the infernal Zerg structure.

A loud boom, and the Hive bled everywhere. Bled. Was that an appropriate word? Was this substance blood? Whatever you called it, it didn't matter. The Hive had survived Horner's grenade.

A sound of rattling machine gun, like the ones attached to Gooliaths.

The Hive explodes, the Zerg stops their attack, and falls dead.

Horner turns around, his Marine suit all but destroyed. A Goliath had delivered the coup de'grace to the Hive. Was it Kevin? Maybe. If it was, he couldn't hear him. The ComLink in his suit was all but shattered. The last thing Matt Horner saw before passing out was the Hyperion, and its fleet coming in. And the last thing he heard, his men cheering in their victory. A Pyrrhic victory yes, but a victory nonetheless….

Captain Matt Horner woke up on an operating bed, on board the Hyperion, with Vi stitching up his arm.

"Jesus, what were you thinking Matt? Running into a Lurker guarded Hive with a grenade like that?" asked Vi.

"Who said I was thinking?"

Tychus and the survivors were busy sharing stories of their victory, downing Antabeer. After his arm was done being stitched up, Vi gave him some painkillers.

"But no Stim. Junkie."

Raynor came up to him, in his dazed, half conscious state.

"Are you alright, Matt?"

"I'll survive. You?"

"Good. We have another assignment coming up soon. Will you be sitting that one out?"

"No. Yes. Maybe. I can't really think, man. Tell Dre I said thank you. We couldn't have done that without her. We'd all be dead by now."  
"I'll be sure to. Oh, and the boy you brought. He's the only survivor of Daphine Prime now. The planet's Zerg colony. Do we keep him?"  
"He's lost his family. He's really one of us now."

"I see. Good night then, Matt. And welcome home."

"Thank you Jim. Thank you."


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 2: The Family Job

Kevin collapses on the gym floor, mostly from exhaustion, partly from emotional stress. He had a lot to learn. He didn't count on things being this difficult. He could pilot a Goliath well sure, because he had driven a farm tractor very similar to it in terms of mechanics back on Daphine. But he couldn't fight, or handle a gun, or any other weapon, properly, he couldn't drive any other vehicles. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. Captain Horner insisted that he studied the history of the Terran Dominion, and its relations with the Zerg and the Protoss.

"I will test you on all this, and if you can't get over 90, I don't want you on this ship. Do you understand me?" said Matt.

"Yes, Captain. I'll try."

"And get rid of that stupid fucking fringe accent. Damn it."

The history of the Terran Dominion itself spanned only a few years. But it tied directly into the history of the Terran Confederacy to come before it, which spanned a few hundred years.

"Why do you want him to study all that? I mean, what does that have much to do with what we do?" asked Sab.

"It has a lot. We have too many recruits, who join not even knowing what we fight for. I want this one to be different. He has a good head on his shoulders. He needs to understand that we're not just a bunch of thugs, and what better way to learn that, than a little history lesson?" said Matt.

The Hyperion had a built-in Cantina, where food was served daily. Most of the time, the eating was pretty darn good, mostly because they didn't need to serve a huge crew, and because a good deal of their income went into food. But sometimes, it was disgusting gunk. But even that could be remedied by Tychus raiding a supermarket, or something. More important though, was a bar inside the place, where drinks were served, cocktails and jazz. When she wasn't piloting, Sab served as the bartender. Matt never asked how she learned to mix drinks and stuff, he just sort of took it for granted. She didn't deserve to be appreciated for this "talent". Because sometimes, he'd order a-

"Pina Colada, please."

And she'd serve him-

"This fucking disgusting shit! What is this? This isn't Pina Colada!"

"Yes it is, Cap."

"No, it's not. Pina Colada doesn't taste this way."

"It does, when you add framberry juice in it."

"Wait, what? Why the hell would you add framberry juice in there? Pina Colada doesn't come with framberry juice, you fucking Zerg!"

"I love framberry juice. And I add it to everything. Personally, I think all cocktails taste much better with framberry, never mind what the so-called 'real' recipe says."

"Sab, I need to ask you something. Would me taking this glass of, shit that you insist is Pina Colada, and throw it in your face, would it greatly impair your ability as a pilot?"

"Hm, probably not particularly. Why?"  
Then, Jim would come inside, ruining the fun, but saving Sab at the last moment.

"Matt, we need you on the bridge. Is your arm healed alright?"

"Yeah, Vi and her girls stitched it up pretty well. And I'm good. Alrighty then, what's the job?"

"You won't like it."

"Haha. What else is new? No seriously, what is it?"

"You really won't like it."

"Does it involve Tychus and lots and lots of alcohol?"

"Hm, no."

"Then how bad can it be?"

"Our employer is Sliven, for one."

Matt stopped dead in his tracks, just before the bridge.

"Sliven? We're working for Sliven?"

"He's offering us a great deal of cash. And it's not a difficult job either. We can't afford to miss this opportunity."

"Christ Jim. Who hooked us up with this thing? It was Nero, wasn't it? That stupid Tarsonian bugger."

"Hold it, Matt. Jaden is a friend, and he only told me that Sliven was looking for a merc group, and that he had lots of money to offer. I'm the one who took the offer."

"Doesn't matter. It's all the same in my eye. Sliven is an animal, you know that better than I do."

"We have to look at the big picture, Matt. And I know how much you hate it when people tell you that, but right now, that's all we have to hold on to. I'm sorry."

They walked on board the bridge. Engineer Swann was working on a new Gauss for Matt, and Tychus was playing with his weapons.

"So, what does the job entail, anyway? Do we kidnap young, nubile girls from Mar Sara for him to play with?" asked Matt.

"Not quite, but close. It's a hit job. The guy's pretty well guarded though, all fortified and stuff. Sliven himself isn't even sure where he exactly is. We just know he's somewhere around Grange Village, just off Tarsonis City, and that he has lots of firepower."

"Alrighty then. Who is this guy?"

"Some crime lord, named Chung. He's been rivaling Sliven, got attacked, fled town, the usual."

"I still don't like this, Jim. Being Sliven's thugs. Sliven, of all people to work for. Think about it."

"Beggars can't be choosers, Matt. Anyways, if you're up for it, get ready to land. I'll bring Sab back. We probably won't need Vi for this one. And you're taking Dre."

Then, it turned into Tychus' turn to protest.

"We're taking the Ghost? For what?"

"Trust me, you'll need her Tychus. I'm not reconsidering it."

Groaning from all sides.

Matt walked into Kevin's quarters, interrupting his studies.

"Pack up Kev, we're leaving. It's a job, and I think you'll need the experience. I hope you beat that sandbag enough."

Kevin stood up, and followed his Captain out.

"Wait, where are we?"  
"Oh, just over Tarsonis. You won't be piloting a Goliath this time around. We don't need Goliaths for this one."

Tarsonis? A core world? Was he finally in a core world, and about to fight in an actual Marine suit? If only they could see him now.

"Vi, there you are. Get our new soldier here dressed in his combat suit."

"Yes, Cap. Come here, then."

Captain Horner walked off into another direction, leaving Kevin to follow Vi. She was a fresh faced girl, about his age, maybe slightly older. Smaller, physically.

"Hi there. Are you Kevin?"

"Uh, yeah. Hi."

"I'm Violet. Nice to meet you. Alright, let's get you dressed. You'll be on Drop Ship A-15. Have you ever handled a Gauss Rifle before?"

"Yeah. The Captain showed me how, just a bit ago."

"Good, good. Simple, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

She smiled at him again, as they walked into a large hanger. The ship, the Hyperion, was much larger from the inside than it seemed from the outside, and was apparently capable of holding several Drop Ships at once. Vi somehow recognized the exact one that Kevin was assigned to, and pointed him to it.

"There you go. Be safe, ok? If you need any medical attention, call for a Medic, and stay behind the tanks."

"Thank you, uh, miss."

"Call me Vi."

Vi then watched on, as the greenhorn made his way into what was most liley his first journey on a Drop Ship. Dre appeared behind her.

"I hope they don't give him too hard a time, huh Dre?"

She nodded.

The Drop Ships landed, and the Hyperion itself too, landed not too far from Grange Village. Matt spied the enemy "base" from a distance, with a pair of scopes.

"What do you see?" asked Tychus.

"Three Command Centers, all around the village. The defense itself isn't too dense at all. We could probably just bash right through it."

"You think?"  
"Yeah. The real challenge is finding the little bugger before he skips town, learning we're here. But I think Dre is good at those things."

"I can probably sense him out," said Dre.

"Good, good. Alright then, it's all you Ty. Take them out for me."

"Will do Captain. Let's move out, boys!"

Tychus, and his Marine Corps moved out, accompanied by two Siege Tanks that Matt called in, just in case their forces were heavier than expected. It wasn't.

The experience was quite surreal for Kevin.

The Marine Suit had a weird effect on the wearer. It made you stronger and faster, but you felt weaker and slower. The Gauss Rifle felt light, though. Normally, it felt like tons. The enemy were nowhere as nearly as well armed or prepared as the Raiders, as Kevin soon learned. They had a few Bunkers and Turrets, but that was about it. Many of them weren't even Marines, just infantry units with light machine guns that had no chance of penetrating their thick armor. They completely dismantled the defense in around half an hour or so, before a sizeable number of more gun wielding thugs started charging out of the village. But they too, were all mowed down completely.

"So, how's your first job, kid? I see you ain't dead or nothing yet," said Tychus.

"It's interesting."

"Killed anyone yet?"

"I'm not a very good marksman."

"Eh, that's alright."

Tychus then charged, taking out two attackers at once with his twin rifles. After about twelve more minutes, they decided that the enemy was sufficiently neutralized, and retreated. They were given orders to destroy the enemy, but leave the village itself unharmed.

"Great job, Tychus. Dre and I will take it from here," said Matt, to his returning troops. They did do a great job, and Matt doubted that there was anything even remotely dangerous in the town left after that attack. But just for safety, he still took his gun and five Marines with himself and Dre.

"Let's move, boys and girls."

Dre remained uncloaked, as they went into town. The town wasn't very big, and had an almost quaint feel to it. Like one of those old fashioned villages they used to have, back home on Earth.

"Are you getting anything, Dre?"

"Fear, anger. Mostly, just fear. Everyone is afraid for their lives."

"Any traces of Chung?"

She closed her eyes, and went into deep thought for a few seconds, before pointing into a direction of a small building to the right of them.

"Over there."

"Alright, let's go. Move in with caution. He might still be dangerous."  
"Should we go in first, Captain?"  
"No. Dre, you stay behind with the boys. I'll go in first."

"What? You're not even wearing a proper battle suit, boss."

"No, I'm wearing a Protoss battle armor. Now shut up, and let me do this proper."

His gun held tight, Matt went in. Hm, the place seemed pretty innocuous. It looked almost like a nursery, or a church. Pretty drawings everywhere. There were some kids, locked themselves in rooms and corners, scared. What kind of crime lord base is this? Then, without warning, a large figure in black popped out from the corners, wielding a machine gun, and started firing at Matt's way. Matt quickly took cover, after firing two suppressive shots or so. Screams of children, the deafening blasts of the gun, and various destroyed thing parts of things flying all over the place, made Matt regret his decision to be the hero and come in alone. Then, the firing stopped, and he heard his attacker reloading, and immediately, the Captain popped out of his hiding and emptied his handgun towards his assailant, hitting and making short work of everything, except the gunman.

"Wow, you really can't shoot for shit."

Enraged, Matt threw his gun at the man, hitting him squarely in the forehead, and body rammed him into the bathroom. Despite being much larger than Matt physically, the man lost balance quite quickly and was easily knocked everywhere. Taking this chance, he took out a knife and stabbed him several times. Matt Horner emerged from the bathroom, victorious, covered in blood, and into a room full of panicking kids. But, the job was complete. Chung was dead, right?

"I rather wish you hadn't done that."

At that voice, he turned around quickly, his knife held in a killing stance, just in case. The kids all crowded towards the speaker, a young, Asian man, slightly shorter than Matt.

"He was my father's favorite body guard. He said he'd protect me to the death. Guess he wasn't lying."

"Are you…. Are you, Chung?"

"Yes, I am. But I'm not the Chung you're looking for. I'm his son. My father, he one that Sliven wanted to kill, died a long time ago. And with no brothers, I guess I'm the leader of the crime family now, eh? Haha."

After patting the children on the head, and calming them down by telling them that Matt wouldn't hurt them, the Captain took the cue and put his knife away, back into his long, brown jacket. Then, Chung dismissed the kids and took a seat, at a small, untouched table, next to the window.

"Nice day, huh? Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?"

"No thanks."

"I figured. You'd had enough drinking for today, hm? Drinking of blood, that is."

"I'm sorry, about the uh, mess I caused."

"Have a seat, friend."

Matt took a seat.

"Did Sliven hire you to kill me?"

"I thought he wanted your father."

He smiled, and poured himself a cup of tea.

"He already got my father, a long ago. He wants you to kill me. Sliven always makes sure that he wipes out the family of all his enemies, as well as the said enemy. Wise policy for a crime lord, I suppose. No chance of familial revenges."

"Are you a priest?"

"Yes, I am. Or rather, I was, before my father died, and my family was under attack from Sliven. I had to renounce my title, to try and protect as many of them as possible but alas, they are all dead. My mother, my cousins, my uncles, my aunt. Even most of my fellow priests have had to bite the bullet, which is why I'm the only one running this orphanage here. My father, before he died from his wounds, used his last drop of money to set up this defense force, in hopes Sliven wouldn't get to me at least."

He took a sip of tea.

"Are you sure you don't want any tea?"

"I'm pretty sure, but thank you anyway."

"So, I guess the question now is: are you going to kill me?"

Matt thought about it for a moment. He took a look at the bathroom, where the body guard was killed. Blood was still seeping all over the place.

"I really did have enough bloodshed for a day. I'm not in much of a mood for anymore killing."

"But that's what you were hired to do, surely?"

A group of Marines, led by Dre, burst into the place, causing kids to start screaming again.

"Sir! Is everything alright? You were taking too long."

"I'm fine, thanks."

It must have been a bizarre sight to behold for the Marines, their Captain sitting down and having a cup of tea with the man they were presumably suppose to kill. But they weren't hallucinating.

"Are you sure, Captain?" asked Dre.

"I really am fine, please, leave us. And I mean that in the nicest way possible, I swear."  
Dre nodded, and they cleared the place.

"Slive in an animal," said Matt.

"You could say that. I think, more than anything, he's lost touch with his humanity. That man needs forgiving."

"If by forgiving, you mean 'to be shot in the fucking face', I'd agree. But as it stands, yes, he needs to die, the sick fucker."

"You seem like a decent man, mister…?"

"Horner. Call me Matt."

"Matt. You seem like a decent person, Matt. I've seen the kind of boys who work for Sliven myself. You don't fit the type."

"Sometimes, you have to do things you don't want to do. It's called a compromise, looking at the bigger picture. I think you know about compromise better than I do, Mister Priest-turned-Gangster."

They both smiled bitterly, and decided to move their conversation to the orphanage's garden instead, taking a small stroll.

"I really don't want to kill you," said Matt.

"And I don't want to hurt you either. Tell me, have you gotten your pay up-front from Sliven?"

"Half of it. It's not our policy, but it is his. It's not enough to keep us going, no."

"What would you say, if I gave you the other half, to turn the gun on him instead?"

"You're a pretty sneaky guy, for a priest."

"Well, does it not work out? I have the money. And a small manpower stationed on Umoja. Sliven is the cancer that is killing Tarsonis. If you take him out, perhaps I can take over, and treat people with more kindness and respect. And you get your pay also. It works out, for everyone."

Matt thought for a second.

"Then this doesn't have to be a compromise."

"Exactly."

"You have a deal, Father Chung."

Sliven's hall was equipped with Psi detectors, to detect any weapons from visitors, before they entered. It proved useful, as it caught many would-be assassins, who would be torture murdered in all sorts of brutal ways by Sliven's men. But not today. For all its effectiveness, it was still a salvaged model, and could easily be overloaded and jammed by say, a particularly powerful Ghost, cloaked. Jim Raynor made his way inside the club.

Past the large, bald man.

Stabbing the password guard to death swiftly enough, to not make too much of a fuss.

Then, he made his way into the Stim den. Sliven, the disgusting worm, with a girl all over his lap, his latest toy. Pity, Jim was always the one to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Hopefully, he was a good enough marksman to avoid harming her.

"Jim Raynor! What brings you here then, eh? Good news, I expect? You really do never fail. I heard news from Jaden-"

Jim drew his gun, Liddy.

"Sliven Kalavera."

A wave of shock and silence paralyzed the room. Then, five shots rang out, piercing the crime lord. He fell from his throne, dead.

"Bad dog."

A rush of no less than a dozen Marines charged from Raynor's behind, blasting everybody in the court. No one could be trusted. Sliven had guards, and armed mercenaries everywhere. They all had to die. Even the slave girls. Especially the sex slaves. Raynor cleared out from the destruction, walking into even more destruction, as Firebats made sure that there would be absolutely nothing left of the club. And any Sliven entourage fleeing were immediately blasted down by the Gauss Rifle upon exiting.

Sliven Kalavera's legacy had to end here. Ad all legacies ended in fire and bloodshed.

"It's done. Sliven is dead."

The crew of the Hyperion and the Raiders left Tarsonis not long after the destruction of Sliven and his entire gang. And not long after, Chung began to make moves to establish himself as the new lord of the Tarsonian underworld.

"I hope it works out," said Matt.

"Was it necessary to kill all those people, Captain?" asked Sab.

"Sliven wouldn't have hesitated. The Gutters are in better hands now. Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices. Even if it seems like compromises will be all you're doing for the rest of your life."


	3. Chapter 3

Episode Three: Old Rivalries, and Banks

Odinus X was a small planet in Korhal's sector, and like most planet near Korhal, including Korhal itself, it was a worthless piece-of-shit desert to pretty much anyone who wasn't a total scumbag, like, Arcturus Mengsk. But Odinus did have one feature that caused a few respectable men to come and go: a secure, Dominion backed bank. Not quite as large, or well secured, as the one offered by the Trading Union, which made Swiss banks looks like a garbage can in the Gutters, but good enough for certain shady figures. Most shady figures stayed clear of the area. No one wanted to take their chances with the Dominion. But when the said figures had Arclite Siege Tanks, the story turned different.

"You are attacking a Dominion official! You are in direct violation of the Emperor's law!"- Last recorded words of Sgt. McConnell, before he and his men were blown apart by the blow of twenty Siege Tanks.

After the initial defense were taken out, Matt, Tychus, and the boys made their way into the bank, machine gunning down any security official idiotic enough to not have ran away yet. Matt supposed this is how nature removes its stupid from the gene pool.

"We are here to commandeer the bank's money. Not your money. Don't try to be a hero, because I will shoot you down. And if you survive, I will shoot you again," announced Matt.

"Tychus, Kevin, get as many cash as you can into the bag, and run."

"We have around thirty minutes before Dominion reinforcements arrive, Captain," said Sab, through the ComLink.

"Alright. Prepare to fly away then. We'll be out in a jiffy. Tychus, hurry the fuck up!"

After the men had robbed a sufficient share of money, they began running out of the bank, to avoid getting caught, and having to return the commandeered goods. The "money" wasn't actually money. It was Dominion sponsored bullions, that they would sell of to Chung for cash they could actually use. Chung needed some money, to defeat some rivalry, harassing his newly founded rule in the Gutters.

"Alright boys, got the load?"

"Yeah, let's run back to the ship, then," said Kevin.

"What the hell do you mean you lost the load? Are you joking?"  
Matt sighed before a very disappointed looking Jim.

"I told you. It was her, no doubt about it. She ambushed us, and took it all."

"You must have seen wrong. Stiles is dead. I saw her die with my own two eyes, back on New Gettysburg."

"No you didn't. You were on the ship with me when Kerrigan got captured."

"Details, details. The point is, no one survived New Gettysburg, period."

"I sort of did. Alright, I wasn't down there personally, but I kind of was, you know?"

"No, no you weren't Matt."

"He's not lying, Jim," said Tychus.

"What the fuck do you know, Tychus? You weren't even there at New Gettysburg," said Matt.

"Hey, you-"

"Shut up Tychus. I don't pay you to give your opinion on things you have no idea about," said Jim.

Disgusted, the hulking man left, and Jim went into deep thought.

"So, let me get this straight. You disarmed the guards and got the bullions-"

"Uh-huh,"

"You were about to leave-"

"Yep,"

"And then Devon Stiles, who is dead, by the way, came in with her boys and robbed you of all the bullions, except two bags."

"That pretty much covers it. Except, Devon Stiles is alive. That's the only flaw there, really."

"Why don't you just tell me that Santa Claus took it, Matt? That would at least be a little less insulting to my intelligence."

"What the fuck is so Zergin' difficult to believe that Devon Stiles is alive and well? Alright well, if she's robbing from bank robbers, maybe she's not doing so well, but she's alive, ok? And she took the shit, period."

Jim stared at Matt in disbelief.

"Matt, you were closer to the platform than me when the Zerg attacked. You saw how many of them there were."

"They covered damn near everything."

"Exactly. And Sarah didn't make it. How the hell do you figure Devon Stiles escaped in time?"

"How the fuck should I know? Is this twenty fucking questions now, Jim?"

"Matt. I want you to answer this next question as honestly as possible."

"Or else what? We extend into sudden death? You sic Dre on me?"

"Did you take the bullions for yourself? You and Tychus?"

And now, it was Matt's turn to stare at Jim in disbelief.

"Jim, what are you saying?"

"Did you take the money, Matt? Is that it? Did you decide to take the cash for yourself behind my back with Chung, and tell me that some dead, ex-Sons of Korhal soldier ambushed you and stole it?"

"Jim, you know I'd never do that to you-"

"I don't want to hear about it, Captain,"

"Raynor, get back here, right now! That's an order from this ship's fucking Captain!"

Raynor ignored him, and simply left for his quarters.

"Is he alright, Cap? Are you alright?" asked Sab.

"I don't fucking believe this. Fix me up a drink, Sab? I need lots and lots of alcohol right now, to make this headache go away."

"So, who is Devon Stiles anyway?" asked Kevin.

Distracted a little by Sab doing some fancy juggling with her can things, Matt lost the question a little, but got back to it.

"Devon Stiles? She was trouble. Not for us, for them. She was a brilliant strategist, a fierce a fighter as any I'd ever seen. Not too pretty, no. But what the hell does that matter when you're a soldier? She could take an entire Confederate fleet with two SCVs and a Barrack, and make them running for the hills."

"And what happened to her?"

"Towards the end of the Sons of Korhal, we had an argument. Jim, Kerrigan, and I were more defensive of Mengsk, whereas she started catching on to him a little. She and a few other soldiers. Mengsk caught on to this division, and sent her, Kerrigan, and anyone else starting to oppose him down to New Gettysburg, on a goddamn suicide mission."

"So, Devon Stiles is dead?"  
"Unless she rose from the grave to rob bullions from us, no, she ain't. I don't know how, but she escaped somehow. And she has what rightfully belongs to us."  
"You mean what rightfully belongs to some company stupid enough to store bullions near Korhal," pointed out Sab.

"Shut up Sab, and bring around another Braxis Supernova. Pilots should fly and mix drinks, and shut up about everything else."

"You're so mean."

"You just noticed that, hon?"

"Kevin, make him stop."

"I can't. He's the Captain."

"You're such a bully, Cap," said Sab.

"Hey Sab, have you noticed how Sab and Cap rhyme?"

"Oh, I didn't notice that until now."

"Exactly. That's what makes you fucking stupid."

Matt collapsed on the bar, slightly drunk. Sab brought another glass of the cocktail.

"And now, Jim thinks I Zerged the bullions from right under his nose. I honestly don't believe this."

"It's not such an unsupported theory. I mean, you have to admit, Marshall Raynor hasn't exactly been the most popular guy around here."

"But it's insulting when he accuses me of it. He's like a father to me. Or a brother. I can't believe how cynical we've become. He won't believe me, or even remotely consider the idea that there might be a survivor from New Gettysburg."

"Don't be so down, Cap."

"Sab, I just called you fucking stupid seconds ago. And you want to cheer me up?"

"I owe you too much to be pissed off at you so easily. I know deep inside, you're my friend. Otherwise, you wouldn't have stuck out for me like that. You love me, right? I mean, like a sister."

"How do you know I wasn't just interested in you as a pilot? How do you know I wanted just Red Baroness, and not Sabrina?"

"Weren't you complaining about cynicism just earlier?"

"You have a point. I guess you're not always a moron, after all."

Te Hyperion made a sound landing on Tarsonis. Only this time, instead of just Jim, the whole gang went into the Gutters. Chung was a decent man, a former priest, after all. But if he learned the boulions were missing, he could be a little ratty, and turn trigger itchy. He was an ex-priest yes, but he was a current crime boss, with enemies to eliminate.

And all along the trip, Jim refused to even talk to Matt.

"I guess Cap is really pissed, huh?" said Vi.

"What is it with you, Sab, and stupid questions?"

"It's not a stupid question," said Tychus.

"If you're asking if Jim is pissed off, yeah, you are pretty damn stupid. He thinks I stole his money. Hey Jim, are you pissed off?"

No reply.

"There you go."

They finally landed on the Gutters, which had become shockingly cleaner. Sure, it was still the Gutters, and wasn't completely free of its usual sleaze and dirt, but the overall sense of evil that previously dominated it was almost completely eliminated. Even the junkies and the hookers weren't so intimidating or sleazy anymore. They made their way into a small building with the sign, "Chung Estate" over it, and found themselves in a small, densely packed office, with cigarette fumes being heavier than oxygen, and intimidating men with weapons. But the familiar face of Chung behind the desk made things seem, all in all, not so bad.

"Matt! Old friend, how are you faring this harsh world, I wonder?" said Chung, greeting them all with a bright smile.

"Great, great. Actually, not so great, no. We've lost the bullions. Jesus, why do people keep staring at me that way?"  
"You what?"

"We lost the cargo, all but two bags. They were stolen, and I'm sorry."

"Is this some kind of a joke? Raynor's Raiders, capable of eradicating Sliven's entire criminal empire without as much as a trace, fight their way through the Kel-Morian Combine and a massive Swarm of Zerg with the scantest manpower possible, defeats the Terran Dominion at every turn. And you can't rob a bank?"

"We were ambushed, by someone smarter than we are."

"Oh yeah? And who would that be? I suppose Sarah Kerrigan herself swooped down and took the bags?"

Tension began gripping the room. Tychus started reaching for his gun. One of the guards notice, and in matter of seconds, they all raised their weapons on the gang.

"I'm scared," whispered Vi, grabbing on to an increasingly uncomfortable Kevin.

"You should be, young lady. Captain Horner here just made life harder for all of us."

"Why the hell do you care? You got your money," said Jim.

Chung shot him a funny look.

"What on Earth is he talking about, Matt?"

"He thinks I jacked the bullions from under his nose, so that we can profit from under the tables without him noticing."  
"Now, why would he think you'd do something like that?"

"Cut the shit, please. It disgusts me. I'm out of here."

But as Jim tried to leave, a guard blocked his way.

"Alright, Matt, tell me again. How did you lose the bullions?"  
"We were ambushed by another merc gang, and they stole it. We couldn't chase after them, because we were running from the Dominion."

"Find it. Find the bullions."

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible. Thank you for the suggestion though."

"I'm not joking Matt. Find it. Without those bullions, I'm broke in two months. And everyone will be clawing away at me like dogs. I'll be ruined. The Gutters will be ruined. You think I'm a petty criminal, don't you Horner? I have my ambitions. You have no idea the extent I've gone to, to clean this sector up, and turn it into something respectable. It was my father's dream, and I intend to see the end of it, and no bullion highjacking mercenary is getting in my way. Find it, or prepare to starve, because I will make sure you never work again."

"So, are you paying for those other two bags?" asked Matt.

"I guess I could do that. Now get out of here."

Devon Stiles was very much alive, and still much smarter than Jim Raynor. Because unlike Jimmy Raynor, Devon wasn't a big damn messiah. And because she didn't have a hero complex, and knew her place, she wasn't constantly challenging the Dominion, or the Zerg, or the Protoss, no matter how disgruntled she was at all three parties. A big messiah is also a very big target. A petty thief is generally unwanted. She hid herself behind the scenes, and avoided the Dominion Radar, using only her men to do the dirty work. Mengsk didn't even know she was still alive. New Gettysburg was a suicide mission, designed not only to neutralize the Protoss, but to get rid of anybody within the organization opposing Mengsk himself. And since Stiles was one of the few becoming increasingly skeptical of Mengsk, she was sent alongside Kerrigan to take care of the job. Only, unlike Kerrigan, she survived. She was neither captured, nor killed. Because unlike Kerrigan, she was not a psychic and did not emit Psi attracting Zerg to her. Yes, most of her men did perish in the fleeing. But she herself survived to crash land on on Braxis, before hitching a ride with the UED, and getting off everywhere, before becoming this. A pirate.

"Miss Stiles, we are preparing to land."

"Good."

She hadn't seen the Raynor's Raiders in such a long time, she almost forgot they existed. Almost. She would have, if they weren't so publicized. For Dominion propagandists, they were terrorists and dangerous thieves. In the underground, they were the "greatest mercenary group alive". Please.

Stiles' flagship, the _Cacophony_, landed soundly on Dardus V, a small, desert fringe planet, ran mostly by a man by the name of Lincoln. Lincoln always insisted on meeting inside a deep canyon on the planet, so that in case anything went wrong, he could sniper her. Not that anything ever went wrong. She was efficient. She never failed an assignment, which was more than what could be said for Raynor and his sad lot of clowns, from what she heard. Unlike most Sons of Korhal alums, she was never captivated by Raynor's charm. He was charismatic, and a decent strategist. That was about it. He was no Jesus Christ to be worshipped, and she was smarter than him and Matt Horner combined.

But they were alive, and active. And in a weird way, that gave her inexplicable comfort. Just to know, that she wasn't alone.

"Do you want me to accompany you like last time, Dev?" asked Erren, her right hand lieutenant.

"Yes. It's more dangerous than last time. We lost two of the original cargo, and Lincoln might get a little ratty about that."

"I just hope we get paid, Captain."

"Me too."

After loading up on her weapons, she and Erren got on their Vulture and raced towards the canyon. While Lincoln definitely had a physical advantage over them, Stiles was no fool. She had her Battle Cruiser, and numerous Siege Tanks just overhead, where Lincoln couldn't spot them, in case anything went wrong. Of course, such an onslaught would also possibly kill her and Erren, but that was a risk to be taken, when so much money was involved. Lincoln was very specific about the number of men she could bring. Only herself, and another guard. After waiting for a few minutes, he arrived, with no less than a dozen, fully armed soldiers. Lincoln himself wasn't armored, but did have a few guns on him. He was a tall man, with a yellow, disgusting, toothy grin. Despite being quite wealthy, he did not dress very well either. He greeted his hired mercenaries with a grin.

"Well, well, well. Devon Stiles. Here to bring the good news, I suppose? Looks like you've got the cargo, or at least, one bag of it."

"The rest is on the ship. We got all the bags, except about two. We ran into trouble, and lost it."

The smile faded from Lincoln's lips.

"What kind of trouble would that be? The Dominion Guards?"

"Worse. Raynor's Raiders. They were there before us, and we managed to ambush them, but they put up a pretty damn good fight."

"Well, this does make things a little bit more uh, complicated."

Lincoln trotted around just a little, as if in thought.

"It's only two bags, you can just-"

"Shut up, Stiles. I'm thinking. Raynor's Raiders, eh? I suppose that'd be Jim Raynor and his boys? They used to work for me at one time, just after the Battle at Korhal, and just before the Battle of Omega, when they were desperate for work. They quit, though."

"So, what'll it be? Will you be buying the bullions, or what?" asked Devon.

"No, I won't be young lady. I'm not doing anything. You're the one, who's going to track them down, and find the missing bullions."

"That's fucking impossible and you know it-"

Before Erren could finish his sentence, Lincoln's boys began reaching for their guns, causing Erren to shut up.

"No, it's not fucking impossible. I don't tolerate failure, Miss Stiles, especially not among industry greenhorns like yourself. How long have you been doing this mercenary thing, eh? A few months, maybe? Wanna know why Jimmy and his boys stopped working for me? They failed, that's why. And it's a goddamn miracle they're alive to roam the Koprulu Sector right now. Now, go out and find the bullions, and also, make sure that no one from the Raiders make it out alive, or God help me."

"I can't do that, Lincoln," said Stiles.

"What's the matter? A soft spot for an old Sons of Korhal alum like yourself? Lingering respect for old Jimmyboy? I don't give a shit! Whatever it is, get rid of it. Maybe you were a soldier once. Not anymore. You're a crook now, just like the rest of us, and you best start acting the part. Find the bullions, and bring Raynor's head on a platter, or I'll do both of it myself, only there'll be two platters, and it's your guess as to whose head will be on the second one. And I'm not paying for those either, until you get the whole package. Now, get out of here."

The Hyperion flew over and around various moons of Korhal.

"I'm telling you Jim, the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. We will catch Stiles."

"Right. The only problem is, this ain't the scene of the crime. We're not even remotely close to Odinus, because you're too chickenshit to go anywhere near the place," said Tychus.

"Hey, shut up Tychus, ok? We're dangerously close to Korhal as it is. It's a goddamn miracle we don't have Dominion Cruisers on our asses right now."

"With all due respect Cap, I have to go with Tychus here. I seriously doubt floating over Korhal is going to do anything," said Sab.

"God damn it, why does everyone need to be so negative? What else option do we have?"

"Well, you could just admit having to stolen the bullions, Matt," said Jim.

"What? You still haven't dropped that stupid I-stole-the-load theory, Jim?"

"Yeah Matt, just admit it and get it over with," said Tychus.

"What the fuck, Ty? You were there with me when it happened, you Zergin' moron."

"I know. I'm just getting sick and tired of Jimmyboy here whining, while we're sitting ducks waiting for either Sam Stiles or the Dominion boys to come and pick us off. Christ."

"Matt, you disappoint me. And to think how far we go back."

"Jim, listen to me-"

"I don't want to hear it. You have no idea what it's been like for me the last few months. I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel, I know that. The Zerg is getting stronger, faster, and bigger by the second, the Dominion can't get its head out of its ass, and I haven't heard from Artanis in so long, I'm starting to wonder if maybe he died on Omega. And the only thing that kept me going was the idea that I wasn't alone. That I had friends, people like you, besides me. People who believed in what I was doing. I guess I was wrong."

"Alright, so, let's say that, hypothetically, I did steal the bullions. What then, Marshall Raynor? What the hell do you want me to do? I'm doing everything I can and here you are, sitting and whining because Sarah Kerrigan is the queen bitch of the universe, and you're just a common crook who's too big for himself-"

Without warning, Jim turned around and viciously punched his lieutenant in the face, then kicked him several times. Kevin, watching from a distance, tried to run up to him and stop it, but Vi held his arm from behind.

"What are you doing? Let me go!"  
"I can't. Marshall is dangerous when he's mad. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well, I don't want your brother, my Captain, to get killed either."

"Matt will manage. You won't, trust me."

Matt picked himself up, still dazed.

"Want to run your mouth off a little more again, Horner? Or do you just want to get the hell off of my ship?"

"Alright. I see how it is. We're done, then. Fucking through. It's over. So long, Jim Raynor. Good luck, because if you think I have nothing better to do than sit here and get my ass kicked by a leader who won't even believe his own lieutenant, you are in for a big fucking surprise. Go kill Kerrigan yourself."

Matt stomped off from the bridge, but not towards his quarters. Towards the Hyperion's hangars.

"Well, at least he admitted he got his ass kicked," said Tychus, shrugging.

"Is he really leaving?" asked Sab.

"Who knows. I don't really give a damn. If he leaves us, you're the Captain of the ship now, Sab."

"Oh, what? Why not me, Jim?" asked Tychus.

"What year was the first Behemoth Class Battle Cruiser mass produced by the Terran Confederacy?"

"Huh?"  
"Exactly."

Then, Jim left for his quarters as well. Kevin released himself from Vi's grip, and chased after Matt.

"Captain Horner! Wait!"

"It's over. It's just Matt Horner now."

"Are you really leaving?"

Matt stopped dead in his tracks.

"I don't know. Maybe. If Jim won't even trust me now, I see no reason to stay."

"You can't leave us, Cap."

"Why not?"

"Because…. If you leave, who'll make me feel better about my poor marksmanship by being even worse than I am?"

"Oh, fuck you."

"Jokes aside, you can't just leave Cap. Now after all you've been through with Marshall Raynor. You said you respected him like a brother."

"Brother? More like a father. And I do respect him. That's why I'm leaving. The man's hardly rational anymore. I can't stand to watch him degenerate himself any longer-"

Then, a sudden boom and a crash shook the ship, and the adjutant's voice announced an attack on the ship.

Matt rushed back to the bridge with his student.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked Matt.

"I don't know Cap, we're under attack by another Cruiser. A Hercules Class, heavier than us."

"Dominion?"

"No. No, they're not Dominion. Even from here, I can tell that much."

"What is this Matt?" asked Jim.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me, mister There's-no-way-in-hell-Devon-Stiles-is-alive?"

"Blast them down Sab, and try to get us as close to them as possible. Hercules Class or no Hercules class, no one disrespects the Hyperion. If they want a fight, we'll give them one hard."

"But as soon as he announced this, the attacks stopped. The Hercules Class moved considerably faster than the now-outdated Behemoth class, and began moving towards the Hyperion with ease. And while the Hyperion was much faster and smoother than the average Behemoth Class, due to its numerous modifications, it couldn't match a Hercules.

"Cap, the ship wants to communicate with us. Says its urgent."

"Patch it through," said Jim and Matt, in unison.

A hologram image of a wisp thin woman appeared in the middle of the bridge. She wore a long, flowing brown jacket, just like the kind Matt wore, only slightly longer. The trademark uniform of the Sons of Korhal commanders, before they became the Terran Dominion. As if this outfit didn't give it away enough, her battle worn face and shrewd eyes penetrated the eyes of everyone on board. No doubt about it. This was-

"Mother of Protoss…. Devon Stiles."

"Hello Jim. It's nice to see you again."

Jim looked lost in words.

"Let's cut the welcome back shit, shall we? I see Matt Horner is here. Matt, you were always the more agreeable fucker of you two, you already know what I want."

"Too late, babyface. We already sold it."

A visible anger ran through her.

"You what?"

"If you want it back, I suggest you take it up with a certain crime guy on Tarsonis City, because those bullions? They're gone, am I right Jim? Oh yeah, by the way, nice new ship. Looks expensive. I guess sucking dick gets you a lot of nice shit these days, Dev."

"Very Zergin' funny, Horner. For some reason, I don't believe a word you say."

"And I don't like your shitty hair style, but that's not doing anything either, is it?"

"Last time we met, we exchanged insulting words, then bullets, before I left."

"I guess some things just don't change, after all."

"No, they don't. I'm raiding your pathetic excuse for a Battle Cruiser, Horner. If you had any brains, you'd be flying in a latest model like me. But you never were the bright one. In a way, it sort of suits you. That ship is as obsolete as you are. You, and Marshall Jim Raynor. Boys, kill 'em."  
Then, the transmission ended.

"Kevin, Tychus, get ready to fend off a lot of ground soldiers. Sab, get us the fuck out of here, now, and shoot down anything that looks even remotely funny. Engineer Swann, prepare to hack some frequencies. I want to hear every breath and muscle movement being made on board that ship. Let's move, boys and girls!"

Stiles was a brilliant strategist, overall, despite lacking in a few areas, such as ground assault and defense (Horner's forte. No one in the Sons of Korhal could come even close to Horner in that department). But her specialty was tracking. If you existed, and you were anywhere near the Koprulu Sector, she could track you down. That's what made her so brilliant, when she used to work for Unholy Tara, before she defected. Rayor's Raiders were no exception.

"Erren, get the men ready. It's on like Donkey Kong," said Devon.  
Erren nodded, already well suited up and his gun ready to go. Erren was a brilliant offensive tactician, but Raynor did have Matt Horner and Tychus Findlay. Also, she heard some disturbing rumors about their current Battle Cruiser pilot. If their pilot really was the Red Baroness, they could be away from here in matter of minutes, before she even knew what to expect. This had to be done quickly.

Two of their shuttles, the _Silence _and the _Durden _made a safe breach into the Hyperion's hangar, and Marines flooded in, en masse, led by Erren, only to be mowed down by the superior firepower of Tychus Findlay and his men.

"Keep them busy! I'll go check their supply warehouse, and look for the bullions!" announced Erren to his men, through his ComLink.

The Vultures came in to the aid of Stiles' Stalkers. Horner responded with Goliaths, even more Marines, and Firebats. Erren had come well prepared in number and gunfire, but this was more than he bargained for. He'd have to make this a fast one.

After about thirty minutes of shooting out, Erren and his men were nearly exterminated, before what few soldiers he had left retreated, and the Hyperion ran from the Cacophony. The Cacophony's pilot was a joke compared to the genius of Sab.

"Swann, do we have those frequency hacks?"

"Yes sir. They are in place."

"Good. We need to know where Stiles is going, and when. Tychus, how did we do?"

Really damn well. Kevin here and me pretty much destroyed all of them, with minimal fucking loss on our part."

"Good job there."

Then, Jim came up to Matt.

"Matt…. Don't know what to say."

"No need to say anything, Jim. Right now, we have bigger fish to fry. Swann, run those frequency hacks, now."  
Voices of Devon Stiles and Erren rang throughout the bridge.

"What now? We're just going empty handed?" asked Stiles.

"I guess. I'm sure we can work something out."

"No. No, Lincoln doesn't tolerate failures. I could see it in his eyes."

"But we need the money, Dev. We don't have much of a choice."

"I suppose not. Alright then. Set course for Lincoln's place."

"Alright, you can turn it off now Swann," ordered Matt.

Swann nodded, and the voices stopped.

"Jesus Christ. Did I just hear that right? Lincoln?"  
"Unless you heard that she's dropping the load on the Easter Rabbit, no. She must be new to the industry to go around looking for jobs around Lincoln's place," said Matt.

"Lincoln? Didn't he try to shoot you once?" asked Sab.

"He didn't try, he did shoot me. And then he tried to knife Jim to death, before Tychus knocked the shit out of him. I don't believe this. After that beating we gave him, he's still on to these tricks?"  
"Who's Lincoln?" asked Kevin.

"The biggest scumbag this side of Arcie Mengsk, that's who. He hires mercenaries, some new, greenhorns who hasn't heard about him yet, makes them rob stuff, then kills them after they drop the load. He tried to pull the shit on us, before we turned it against him, and beat the hell out of him. And if Devon Stiles is working for him, she's a dead woman."

"Stiles is smart. She can manage," said Tychus.

"If she's working for Dishonest Abe, she's no Einstein."

Devon and Erren walked up to Lincoln and his boys, just like the last time.

"So, it ain't there, eh?" asked Lincoln.

"No, sorry. But like I said before, it's just a small load you're missing. You won't miss it, I swear," said Stiles.

"No, I won't miss it at all."

"So, the deal is on?"

"Haha…. Not exactly."

Slowly, dozens of armed men began crawling out of various hiding places, surrounding Stiles and Erren completely. Then, before either of them could react, they were attacked, and subdued completely.

"You little shit!" cursed Stiles.

"You should have learned the rules of the game before playin', darlin'. Never trust someone who's willing to pay a greenhorn as much as an old hand."

"You'll regret this shit, Lincoln," said Erren.

"And how? Through this little fucker?"

Lincoln pulled out a head from a bag he'd been holding, and tossed it to their side. It was bloody, and covered in dirt, but both Erren and Stiles recognized it as the face of Maggie, the Stalkers' Siege Tank leader.

"Do I look like a moron to you, Stiles? I could have ambushed your pathetic excuse for an ambush an hour before it was set up if I wanted, that's how far I saw it coming from. My boys already raided your ship too. It's all over for you, little lady. But here's where the fun begins."  
Lincoln snapped his fingers, and a large, masked man with a chainsaw walked over.

"Meet the Moosh. I picked him off the Gutters in Tarsonis, and he likes to carve people up real nice and slow. He can have you, Erren. And you Stiles. Well, let's just say, my men and I haven't seen a woman in a while, so…."

A few giggles and whistles from the gang of mercenaries. Lincoln snapped his fingers again, and his boys moved in, the Moosh grabbing for Erren, to slice him into bits with the saw, and Stiles' jacket being removed, and her pants tugged at.

"I'll fucking kill you for this Lincoln!" she screamed.

"How? By pulling Jim Raynor outta your ass?"

Then, a sudden, loud boom, recognized by everyone as the booming of a Mark 7 S-16 Chomsky sniper caused everyone to freeze, and turn around. The big, hulking Moosh fell down with his chainsaw, with a hole through his head, bleeding profusely, while Matt Horner stood before them all.

"Alright boys. Kill 'em!"

A mob of Marines jumped out from his behind and opened fire at Lincolns' men. Being totally unarmed and caught with their pants down, many of them literally, they were unable to respond properly, and were annihilated in seconds, except Lincoln, who took light cover behind a small rock, armed with a shotgun.

"Alright, that is IT! Any of you fuckers move and I swear, I will mother-"  
Then, a bang, and blood sprayed from his stomach, causing Lincoln to collapse. The shot came from Erren.

"-Fucking shoot you," said Matt, finishing his sentence. Then, his coat flowing behind him, he walked up to a wounded Lincoln, and shoved his gun in his face.

"Last time you tried to fuck me and my crew over, I warned you to never pull that shit again on anyone, because if you did, I would fucking kill you. Now, what part of that did you not understand? Fucking, or killing? Because you were just about to do both."

"So, is this the part where you shoot me then? Huh, Mr. Hero Man? Are you gonna make an anti-Dominion message by killing me? Is this where you save your buddies by killing me?"

Matt considered for a while, before withdrawing his gun and standing up, seemingly to leave. Then, he turned back around and shot him in the face, thrice, spraying his face with blood.

"Yes. Yes it is."

Matt walked away, talking to both Erren and Devon.

"I sure as hell hope he didn't have AIDS, Dev, since his disgusting blood got all over me. But that ain't out of the realm of possibility, so I'm pretty much glad we got Medics on board the Hyperion."

Erren walked up to him, and punched him in the face.

"That's for shooting me the last time we met, when we still worked for Mengsk."

"I deserved that one," said Matt.

Jim Raynor then began driving towards them, on his Vulture, with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Jim Raynor. After all I've done to you, you came all the way down here to save my ass from this piece of shit rapist?" asked Devon.

"No. Actually, Matt and I came to steal your bullions, kill your men, and salvage weapons from your Battle Cruiser. But saving your butt did work out too, I guess."

Pulling her pants back on, she stood up, and walked up to Raynor.

"Thank you, then."

"Don't thank me. Thank Matt. He's the one who worked out all of this. I'm just the guy who sits and whines."  
"What? Hell no. There's a reason why we're called Raynor's Raiders, and not Horner's Raiders."

"Is that a possible name change in the future, Captain?" asked Jim, getting an uncomfortable laugh out of his lieutenant.

"I don't leave friends behind, Dev. Even if they do hate my guts, and would rather like to see me dead. It just ain't the right thing to do."

"A good moral to live by."

"What can I say? I was taught by a man with lots of good morals in his head," said Matt, motioning to Jim.

"So uh, about those bullions-" said Tychus.

"Oh, you can keep them. I always pay for any services I get, even if I didn't ask for it. Besides, I'm not the one struggling on low budget."

"Now, who the hell told you that?" asked Matt.

"Word on the street, hon. Word on the street. Come on Erren, we're leaving. I hope we see you again sometime then, Matt."

"What, so I can save your ass from the latest mess you got into? No thank you. I'm charging double next time."

With a laugh, she took her Vulture and prepared to ride off with Erren.

"Just one question," said Jim.

"Yes?"

"How did you survive Gettysburg, anyway?"

"The same way you survived Korhal, Jim. By running. Really, really fast."

Then, she rode off for good, leaving Jim and Matt to watch.

"It's always nice to know that you're not the only one scraping the bottom of the barrel," said Raynor.

"No you're not Jim. And you'll never be, not until Matthew Horner drops dead."


	4. Chapter 4

Episode 4: Memories and Nightmares Part 1

The Trading Union, as their name implied, controlled nearly all trading that went on in the Koprulu Sector completely, whether it was between companies, between companies and banks, between individuals and banks, between companies and governments, or whatever else. As a result, they were a very powerful group, and few had the galls to cross them. The Terran Dominion made this exclusive list of few people and organizations who would knowingly, and unapologetically, cross the Union. But tonight, the Union's Chief Viceroy, Lord Evice, was quite intent on removing Arcturus Mengsk's disgusting name off that list.

It was a simple enough job, really. The Union wanted to build a small dock near Uilila IV, to rest Union ships. The trouble was, the Dominion also wanted that area, supposedly, to build a scientific facility, for research. Evice saw through the gesture. The Dominion could have built the facility anywhere they wanted to, but intentionally chose the same location as the Union, simply to demonstrate their power over them. Mengsk was secretly threatened by the Trading Union. Evice was infuriated. He had to destroy the Dominion, and show them that they meant business. The Trading Union already possessed a sizeable military, and was more then capable of destroying the facility themselves if they felt so inclined. However, none of the board leaders were ready to declare the Second Guild Wars, just yet, especially not with the Zerg threat constantly looming over them. Those pesky Koprulu Liberation Front, who charged enormously for their services, were enough distraction, without the Trading Union compounding on to the problem. The solution was simple. They would hire a powerful mercenary gang to destroy the base completely, and leave just enough traces to let the Dominion know that the Union was pulling the strings, without being too overt, as to allow them to incriminate them. It was perfect. The only problem was, the most powerful mercenary group in the Koprulu Sector couldn't land anywhere near Korhal, because they were so heavily wanted by Mengsk and his boys. Normally, Evice disliked going to his employees, instead of making them come to him, but just this once, he'd make an exception. His guarded Drop Ship touched down on a small, fringe planet they chose for the occasion. Surrounded by guards, Evice made way towards the rendezvous, to meet with his mercenaries, equally guarded.

"Right on time. Impressive," said the leader, Matt Horner.

"I am a businessman, Mister Horner, and you will find that us businesspeople are very savvy when it comes to keeping time."

"Right. So, we called you down here all the way from Korhal. Let's not waste time. What's the assignment?"

"We need you to take out a Dominion base."

Horner looked a little unpleasant, and looked around. Jim Raynor, standing by him, spoke.

"We do have an unspoken policy on trying to avoid any unnecessary direct confrontations with the Dominion Military. Now, if it was assassination of a certain person, or robbing, maybe, but-"

"But you're the best there is. Come now. After all you lot have been through, you can't take out one measly Dominion Base? It's not very heavily guarded either, mind you. Just recently built."

Evice motioned towards one of his men to bring forth a pair of heavy briefcases.

"These are your payments, just for meeting me here today. If you complete the job successfully, you will be paid double that sum, which is, from what I gather, nearly quadruple your usual salary."

"Christ, you guys aren't the Trading Union for nothing," said Horner.

"Indeed. We are very wealthy men, Mister Horner. And we wealthy men tend to be generous towards the best."

Sab sat in her piloting seat, reading, and occasionally twirling in her chair, when Vi walked in.

"Oh, hey Vi. Didn't hear you."

"Hi Sab. I haven't talked to you in a while. Have they come back yet?"

"Nope. They should be back soon though. How's the uh, Ghost going?"  
"Her name is Dre, Sab. Let's try to use her name, instead of just calling her Ghost. How would you feel if someone decided to start pretending your name was just Pilot?"

"Well, your brother, and our Captain, calls me more demeaning things everyday…. Isn't it just a tad scary working with her so much?"

"Not really. She's very much harmless, I can assure you. And very intriguing a person to talk to. She guesses a lot about me."

"Well, you're a pretty transparent person, so that's not much of a feat."

Then, Matt and Jim came back to the Hyperion, each carrying briefcases. Matt made way into the ship's main gym, where the crew kept in shape. Tychus was beating on Kevin, badly.

"Come on, you pansy. Your strike stance is all wrong. Get up and try that kick again, come on."

"Tychus, quit beating on the kid and get back to the bridge. We need you. You too Kev."

"Yes sir," they both said in unison. Then, Tychus gave Kevin a nudge.

"Work on that technique. Right now, I could kill you with my pinky."

"Sab, get ready to take off. You're reading? Gossip Girl, eh? Never thought you were the type for classical literature."  
"Classical can be fun too. This one is pretty god," she said.

"Woah, Sab is reading? I need a picture of this," said Matt.

"Oh, shut up Matt," said Vi.

Then, Jim, Matt, and Vi all left the piloting area, to gather around the Bridge.

"Hi Kevin. Your arm is bruised. What happened?" asked Vi.

"Righteous Tychus happened," said Kevin.

"Vi, go fetch Dre. We have a new job, and this one is seriously big. Right now, Marshall Raynor here and I were paid close to our usual salary for a complete job, just for meeting with this guy. If we do this right, we are a giant step closer to our ultimate goal, which coincidentally, ties into this job."

"So, what's the job?" asked Tychus.

"We have to take out a Dominion base on Uilila."

"What? We're actually going to make a head-on collision against the Dominion?" asked Kevin.

"Isn't it our ultimate goal to take out Mengsk anyway? Might as well start practicing now. Dominion ain't nothing special. We've beaten them before."

"Only now, you have me."

Dre entered the room soundlessly, aside from her voice.

"Is she going with us?" asked Tychus.

"Why? Are you scared she might kick your ass, Ty?" said Matt.

"Hell no."

"You're lying to us," said Dre.

"God damn it! Fucking stop that! I hate it when they read my mind. I'm going to bed to jerk off or something."

Then, Tychus left.

"Alright, he's gone, so we can officially make this discussion a little brainier than usual, am I right? We land, we kill everyone, blow things up, leave, get paid. Cool."

"What if they send in the big guns?" asked Vi.

"If they send in the big guns, we'll run really fast. It's a no brainer, really. Besides, we have a big gun of our own. Dre. And with the cash from our last job, we got us a new Silo."

"I'm an act of God. That makes you God, Captain Horner." said Dre.

"Uh, thank you. I guess. With the Silo, we should be able to take out what defenses they have, and strike really fast with Marines and Goliaths before they can react. Oh and Kevin, stay out of this one."  
"What, why?"

"It's too dangerous. You've never fought the Dominion before."

"Yes I have."

"No, you've ran from them before. This is different."

"I've fought the Zerg, and won! I've killed Hydralisks before, and they're worse than the Dominion-"

"Stay out."

"Listen to him, Kev. Better safe than sorry," said Vi.

"Vi, you stay back too. That's an order you won't argue."

"Yes sir," said Vi, with an eye roll.

"Ok then. Briefing over. Sab, take us down to Uilila IV then."

Matt and Raynor left, and as Dre was about to leave, she stopped Kevin.

"By the way Kevin, there is nothing wrong with your technique. Tychus is cheating to beat you up, so that he can feel like a superior male specimen over you. Don't take it personally."

Kevin stood there, confused.

"Come on Kev, let's get your bruise fixed up," said Vi.


	5. Chapter 5

Matt and Raynor stood over the cliff, Matt loudly chewing on a piece of gum while listening to his headphones, Jim spying at the enemy encampment with his scopes.

"What you listening to, eh?" asked Tychus.

"The September Halloweens."

"The Halloweens? Jesus, those guys are fuckin' ancient."

"They fucking invented music, you Zergin' cunt. Fucking tasteless goon."

"We're lucky boys. They haven't had the time to set up that many bunkers or Turrets yet. Not too many Marines either. I think we can end this pretty quickly if we use the Siege Tanks and Vultures to take out what little Turrets they have, and have Dre give them our Silo."

"If their defenses aren't too thick, we shouldn't waste the nuke," said Tychus.

"We have to minimize casualty, Ty," said Jim.

"Why? One less Marine, one less mouth to fill. I know that makes me sound like a Jaden Nero type asshole, but you know its true Jim."

"Ok Ty. It's all you from here. Get your boys and prepare to strike as soon as possible. They don't know we're here, so we have the element of surprise on our side. Kill them all."

"With pleasure."

Tychus took the Siege Tanks and Marines and charged into the unsuspecting Dominion base. Then, Jim and Matt led the Vultures from behind, where they weren't expecting it. Despite being overwhelmed fairly quickly, the Dominion did put up quite a fight. They had great discipline on the battlefield, holding their ground, and had a good number too. Much more than what Matt initially suspected. But when that last Missile Turret went down, it would be all over from there.

"Dre, are you in place?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Alright boys, retreat!"  
After about an hour of bullet firing ruckus, the Raiders made a hasty retreat for the canyons, leaving a badly damaged Dominion to lick their wounds, until the storm hit them and wiped them all off the face of the planet.

"They're retreating, sir," said a Dominion lieutenant to his captain.

"Indeed. Those damn mercenaries never had a chance against us. All retreat when faced with the superior firepower of the Dominion Defense Force."

"Nuclear launch detected."

"Sir! They're planning a nuclear atta-"

But the Captain was nowhere to be found.

Dre had single handedly high jacked a small Science Facility over their main base. The Facility was guarded well, but not well enough to take her on, even with detectors. And now, she was about to reap the whirlwind on them from her sniping area.

The red dot marking the ground zero flashed on and off on their main Command Center, one of two.

Three.

Two.

One.

Boom.

Only about ten minutes after the missile struck, Jim and Matt came running back with their men, slaughtering what little survive the attack. most of them opted to surrender instead, so that they could be tied up and watch as the Raiders dismantled their base completely.

"I don't get it, why don't we just execute prisoners?" asked Tychus.

"It's just not humane Ty. Honestly, you turn more and more into an animal by the da—"

Matt stopped in mid-sentence, when he spied a fleet of Battle Cruisers coming their way in the distance, accompanied by scores of red clad Marines.

"Oh no."

"The Alpha Squadron is here. You're all fucking dead, you bunch of terrorist shits!"

"Alright, can we execute prisoners NOW, Mister Bleeding Heart?"

"Run, RUN! RETREAT! ALPHA SQUADRON!"

Upon hearing the name Alpha Squadron, the men made an extremely hasty retreat to the Hyperion, not even bothering to kill the remaining prisoners. Only Tychus stayed calm enough to do that. Both Matt and Jim ran as fast as their Vulture bikes would go.

"Didn't expect them to show up," said Jim.

"Me neither. Zergin' Alpha Squadron," said Matt.

After all the men were back on board, Matt drove his Vulture all the way from the hangar, into the ship, And ran into the bridge on feet only when his bike got too big for the doors.

"Captain! What happened?" asked Sab.

"Sab, no time to explain. Alpha Squadron, take off, NOW!"

Sab launched herself back into her pilot seat, and barked orders at Engineer Swann to get the ship fired up.

"Sir, we have two Battle Cruisers on our tail already. And they have a few Wraiths."

"Then run really fast Sab. I want you to run so fast, they won't even see us. Use Yamato, send in Valks, I don't care, just get us out, pronto!"  
The two Alpha Squadron Battle Cruisers did not even bother to offer the Hyperion a chance to surrender, opting instead, to being attacking immediately. Only one of them were equipped with Yamato Guns, noted Sab. That was a fatal flaw in the new Hercules model Battle Cruisers. They were faster, more efficient, and had much heavier defense and firepower than the Behemoth, but they couldn't be equipped with both artillery unit and the Yamato Gun. Sab would use this to her advantage, by using the Hyperion's dual artillery capabilities and Yamato Gun to distract them, while running back out of the orbit.

"Faster Sab, come on!"  
"Captain, hold on to something really, really tightly."

"Why?"

"Just fucking do it!"  
Matt then screamed at everyone on the bridge to do the same. Jim and Tychus immediately did so. Sab announced it back on the Intercom.

"I'm about to do something that I've never tried since I used to pilot a Valk."

"You can't do that with a Battle Cruiser, Sab! It's fucking suicidal!"  
"The other option is capture or death, Captain, and yes, theoretically, it's very much possible. Just watch me do it."

Stopping from running away from the Battle Cruisers, the Hyperion began advancing towards them, seemingly just rushing into the enemy fire. The other Battle Cruiser was loading up for a Yamato Cannon, and if that hit the Hyperion, it was all over. This was the only way. The maneuver would save their lives, if pulled off correctly, but could just as easily end them all if it failed. Sab prayed that her piloting abilities wouldn't fail her now.

Just as the hammerheads of the three Cruisers were about to meet, the Hyperion turned on its side quickly, and made a quick descent towards the ground. Then, fueled by Engineer Swann's quickly applied burst of specialized fuel injection, the Battle Cruiser quickly picked itself up before it crashed into the ground, and made its way out of the orbit of the planet cleanly, while the two pursuing Cruisers blasted at each other endlessly, and the Yamato Cannon meant for the Hyperion hit its ally instead. The friendly fire hit the Cruiser straight in its engine area, blasting it to pieces, and the debris from the blast killed nearly everyone onboard the surviving ship- including the pilot. With no one to guide it, the Battle Cruiser crashed into the ground, and exploded.


	6. Chapter 6

"Holy shit, Sab

"Holy shit, Sab. Holy Zergin' shit."

"Are we still alive?"

The men, after waking up from the daze of having had their ship turned on its side, then launched into space at breakneck speed in that shape, began cheering loudly everywhere. It was over. They'd successfully eluded the Dominion, and defeated two Hercules-class Cruisers at once. Sab wiped the sweat from her forehead, just as Matt and the gang jumped into the piloting area to lift her up.

"You're fucking brilliant, Sab! We love you!"

"The Red Baroness delivers, once again!"

"Let's all have a drink!"

The boys all carried Sab off to the Cantina. Sab motioned for Matt to join them, but he shook his head, opting to stay behind with Kevin and Vi instead, both still confused.

"Are you ok?" asked Vi, to Kevin.

"Is he ok? What about your beloved brother and dear Captain?"

"You're a soldier. Kevin, he's just getting started."

"That was too close. But I'm fine Vi, thank you. What was that, Captain?"

"That was us kicking the shit out of two Battle Cruisers at once and getting away with it, that's what! I've always heard about that maneuver, but I didn't think it was possible to pull it off on a Battle Crui-"

"No, no. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm already aware of Sab's piloting capabilities. I've read on it, her past and everything, how she came to be with us."

"Then what did you want to know?"

"You mentioned the Alpha Squadron, and all the men, they sort of went…. Insane. I could see real fear in their eyes. Like they were seriously afraid."

Matt's face grew slightly darker.

"Oh. The Alpha Squadron…. You know how, when we were briefing, we talked a little about what would happen to us if they sent in the big guns?"  
"Yeah."

"Well, the Alpha Squadron are the big guns. Technically, their size is only about half the size of the Nova Squadron and the Omega Squadron. Hell, even the Episilon Squadron is larger, but, they've never been defeated in a battle before. At least, not since Edmund Duke died. They're the Dominion's shock troop, the boys they send in when nothing works, and they need to kill lots of people, really fast. And they like to play with their food before they eat it. Some folks think they're even scarier than the Zerg."

Kevin felt a little disillusioned, having firsthand experienced the true might of the Dominion they were rallying against.

"But, the point is, we got away! We beat two of their fancy, schmancy Hercules class Cruisers and-"

"Hold up. Where's Dre?"

Admiral Tossen, the leader of the Alpha Squadron, watched from his flagship, the _Spartan, _the scene of destruction caused by the Raynor's Raiders. So, the rumors of their prowess didn't lie. Their battle strategy and squadron control was brilliant, to say the least. But not even they would be shrewd or powerful enough to elude capture from his Alpha Squadron.

The door behind him whirled, as his lieutenant, Daniel Smith, entered the bridge, and saluted him.

"Admiral Tossen."

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"They got away sir. And they destroyed the _Church_ and the _Hellfire _in the process."

Tossen felt his left hand trembling a little. He was glad his wine glass was in his right.

"They got away?"

"Yes admiral."

"It was to be expected. The fault was mine, my good man. I underestimated them, and overestimated myself. Two Battle Cruisers were nowhere near enough against Jim Raynor. Even if their flagship happens to be a garbage Behemoth class."

"Behemoth class? They still produce those?"  
"No, lieutenant. But that ship has a long history, the Hyperion. I did rather wish we could have captured it with minimal damage. It's a true relic."

"We do have a good news, sir."

"Yes?"  
"We've captured a Ghost. But it's not just any Ghost. I really think you ought to see this yourself. I've just had my men remove her from the Science Vessel back here. Bring her in."

A group of scientists brought in a large container, a Terran mimicry of the Protoss technology Stasis Cell, into the bridge. In it was a nude woman, unconscious, and floating, attached deeply to the machinery. The complex computer below her read her vital stats. At first, Tossen did not recognize her as anything special, until he wracked his brain. His advanced age made it slightly difficult to recall things at time, but he remembered.

"Mother of God…. This can't be."

"It is, sir. It's her. We have one of the two. Operation Gre-"

"Silence, lieutenant! Do not even dare speak the first syllable in the name of that accursed project! The Emperor kept it secret only to himself and his most valued commanders for a reason, Smith. Value the reason. Speaking of which, Emperor Arcturus must be contacted about this immediately. I've never imagined I'd lay my eyes on one of these beauties in my life time…."

"Dre's gone. We've looked everywhere too."

Dre's disappearance caused quite an emotional ruckus among the crew of the Hyperion. A mix of tension, fear, and relief all at once.

"We have to go back and get her-"

"Too late, Vi. She's probably dead by now. Or captured."

"Captured is more like it."

"No, Matt. You're not thinking straight. Dre is a fighter. She'd never let herself be captured."

"Even in the presence of other Ghosts? Or someone with a Psi screen?" suggested Kevin. Jim opened his mouth to offer a rebuttal, but then closed it, having no answer.

"He's right Marshall Raynor. Dre may be a powerful Ghost, but if they had say, a Psi screen, or a neuro-jammer, she'd go down easily. She could be captured," said Vi.

"Well then, what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go back and get her!"

"And I thought you were the level headed one around here," said Tychus.

"What?"  
"One less Ghost, one less mouth to feed. One less Ghost, one less chance of something going Sarah Kerrigan on our asses."

"You're a fucking degenerate, Tychus. It's one thing to be afraid of her, but she's a human fucking being, and a friend-"

"He's right, Matt."

Matt turned around. Jim was the speaker this time.

"What?"

"I said, he's right Matt. Dre's gone. If she's not dead, she's captured. And if she's captured, we're through. What are we gonna do? Go back there and fight the Alpha Squadron face to face, and demand her back? Tychus is right. Sometimes, you have to make compromises. Soldiers die and get captured all the time."

"And I thought you would have learned your lesson by now, Jim. Remember what happened last time we left a Ghost behind."

"I did not leave her behind, Horner. You know that better than I do. I tried to save her."

"Yeah, and Arcturus Mengsk tried to 'save' her too, after letting the Zerg have their sick way with her body, and turn her into that Zergin' abomination."

"So, you want us to go on a suicide mission against the entire Dominion Empire to save one soldier? Is that it?"

"You're our Commander Jim, remember? I won't argue this through if you're just going to disagree with me on it. I just thought maybe you'd like to think about these things. I'm going to bed. We have money to collect tomorrow, and I'm tired."

"Captai-"

"Leave me alone Kev. It's done."

And without anybody noticing, Violet Horner silently broke down in the corner of the bridge, running down to her room.

The Trading Union was extremely pleased with the work the Raiders accomplished, and agreed to pay them in a meeting place in Tarsonis City. Unfortunately, this great news failed to reach anyone at the moment. Vi was inconsolable, even by Sab, while Tychus's attempt to shake Matt out of his disappointment and angst was unsuccessful, to say the least. But Matt did eventually agree to accompany Jim and Tychus to Tarsonis City, to get paid.

"It's so weird, her being gone. I mean, I hardly even knew her, and she has this weird effect on me. Like, I knew her forever. And it's a hole in me, her not being there."

"Dre had that effect on people. It's just that, too many misunderstood that feeling as fear, when it was just a wanting," said Matt, getting on his Vulture. Tychus wasn't much of a Vultrue pilot, so he shared Jim's ride. Matt refused to speak to him.

"Matt, are you still upset?" asked Jim.

"Not so much upset. Just bitter. It's funny, I of all people ought to be used to these things. But I guess I wasn't as tough as I thought I was."

Then, he snorted and jetted off, leaving Jim to follow him.

"I do hope he's ok," said Sab as they left.

Tarsonis City was reached quite quickly. The upper class areas of the city were actually very clean, and nice to be in, with minimal Dominion force influences, and very little crime. Not at all like the Gutters.

"We're suppose to meet in this café," said Jim.

"Jesus, these rich boy types can't give Zergin' cash without coffee," said Tychus.

"Alright then. You boys get paid. I have business to attend to."

"Matt, where are you going?"  
"Like I said, business to attend to. You don't actually need me, do you?"

Then, He got back to his Vulture, and rode off towards the Gutters.

"Leave him alone Ty. He needs to let off some steam too, I suppose."

Jaden Nero was not very difficult a man to find, if you only knew where to look. He could always be seen at a bar, or loitering in front of a building somewhere, surrounded by friends, laughing and chain smoking. Unless he was expecting someone, Nero was rarely alone, being quite popular and well known for his knowledge and skills. Tonight, he was drinking with a few buddies at a flashy bar, owned by Chung. Matt made his way in, and walked up to him.

"Jaden Nero."

A few seconds after his name was said, Nero finally turned around to greet the Captain of the Hyperion.

"Matt Horner! Damn it, been so long since I've seen you last. How've you and the boys been?"

"Let's cut the shit, and talk business. I need you to tell me something."

"Well, that's what I do, ain't it? Give information, help guys out. So, what's up my friend?"

"How would one defeat the Alpha Squadron? Or rescue a Dominion prisoner?"

Nero's jovial face quickly turned more serious. He looked around for any potential Dominion men overhearing the conversation. Finding none, but still paranoid, he let his friends know that he and Matt would be conversing outside the bar, more privately.

"What kind of prisoner and defeat are we talking about here?" asked Nero.

"One of ours, a Ghost, was captured by the Alpha Squadron on our last job. Put your Tarsonian ass in my shoes. What would you do to rescue her?"  
"Well friend, this is what I would do. I would go down to the nearest pharmacy, and purchase a large amount of anti-depressants, because your girl? She's goners. They probably raped her to death and lopped her head off by now."

Enraged, Matt drove him up the wall, holding him by the collars.

"Shut the fuck up! Do you have any idea, what is at stake here? This is my friend we're talking about. Now start talking, or I will blow your Zergin' head off before you can say Alpha Squadron."

"Alright, alright. Fine. But first, I need you to be cool Matt. Can you do that? Cool. Now be cool, and let me down."

Matt let him down, as if he'd rather drop him down.

"I'm sorry about that. I ran my mouth off, had a few drinks you know, it messed with my manners. Forgive me, huh? Sorry, my Zergin' stupid mouth. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, your friend. If they didn't kill him yet-"

"Her."

"Her yet, she's probably down by Ragna Bay."

Matt froze.

"What's wrong?"

"Ragna Bay? Ragna Bay is still open?"

"Oh yeah, a lot of folks think they shut it down when the Confederacy fell, but the Dominion reopened the facilities, not so long ago. Surely a man like you must have heard the news?"

"I'm a bit slow on the intake these days."

"Right. So, they've reopened the place, and it's just as guarded as before, only even worse, I hear. If you want to rescue your friend, that's the place to be."

Matt sighed in despair.

"Want a smoke?"

"I don't smoke, Nero. Thanks."


End file.
